The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? Kindle Edition

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Jared Diamond (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 338 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0143124405
ISBN-10: 0143124404
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Product Details

  • File Size: 11561 KB
  • Print Length: 544 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (December 31, 2012)
  • Publication Date: December 31, 2012
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B008EKOO46
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray:
  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,207 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsAnother gem-albeit with some imperfections-from Diamond
By Ursiform on December 31, 2012
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
In two previous books Jared Diamond has explored how a fortunate confluence of advantages allowed Europeans to be the ones who largely conquered the world ("Guns, Germs, and Steel"), and how societies can be driven to collapse either by over exploiting their environment or by climate change that is more rapid than they can adjust to ("Collapse"). Now he tackles how people lived (and in some pockets still live) before "civilization" as we know it today arose. Once again Diamond demonstrates broad knowledge and a capacity to draw features of multiple societies together into a better understanding of humans as a species.

While I admire Diamond, some of his beliefs and conclusions are open to debate, and should not be taken uncritically. Anthropology is not an exact science, and reasonable, knowledgeable people can draw different conclusions from the same facts, with no way to test and prove one or another interpretation as correct. As I will explain, there are many arguments in this book I find compelling, but others where I think Diamond reaches too far. But anyone reading this book with an open mind will learn much about our species, and be challenged to consider a new way of looking at how people lived "until yesterday".

As will be expected by readers with Diamond experience, a lot of the book happens in New Guinea, where Diamond has made many trips to study the birds (he is, among other things, an ornithologist) and has many friends.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsA Brief Summary and Review
By A. D. Thibeault on January 7, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
*A full summary of this book is available here: An Executive Summary of Jared Diamond's 'The World Unitl Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies'

The main argument: The onset of agriculture and farming some 11,000 years ago (termed the Neolithic Revolution), is arguably the most significant turning point in the history of our species. Agriculture induced a major population explosion, which then led to urbanization; labor specialization; social stratification; and formalized governance--thus ultimately bringing us to civilization as we know it today. Prior to the Neolithic Revolution--and extending back time out of mind--human beings lived in a far different way. Specifically, our ancestors lived in small, largely egalitarian tribes of no more than 50 to 100 individuals, and hunted and foraged for their food.

The transition from our traditional hunting and gathering lifestyle, to early farming (and herding), to civilization as we know it now (which, on an evolutionary time-scale, occurred but yesterday) has certainly brought with it some very impressive benefits. Indeed, many of us today enjoy comforts and opportunities the likes of which our more traditional ancestors would never have dreamed of. However, it cannot be said that the transition from traditional to modern has left us without any difficulties. Indeed, some would go so far as to say that the problems that civilization has introduced outweigh the benefits that it has brought; and even the most unromantic among us are likely to agree that our experiment in civilization has not been an unmitigated success.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsAll My Troubles Seemed So Far Away
By Robert Taylor Brewer on December 31, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Like "Edward Hopper in Vermont" reviewed earlier, Jared Diamond's new book, The World Until Yesterday, is also endowed with a series of gorgeous photographs that depict the author's themes and preoccupations. At least one of them - a photograph explaining why contemporary Westerners gravitate toward obesity while traditional societies have mostly slender inhabitants - is likely to give readers a belly aching laugh. There is a deeper lesson from this one picture, it's clear the author's aim is to create a readable document, not one that is so clogged with statistics that it becomes impenetrable.

Professor Diamond's main argument is that traditional societies and "advanced" Western ones learn from each other, absorb and assimilate the customs and cultures of each other in a way that will better serve their interests. That's why, he notes, urban American gangs don't resolve all their disputes in courts, but instead rely on traditional methods of crisis resolution with negotiation, intimidation, and war. It's also the reason members of traditional societies like the ones he observed in New Guinea now have learned to travel broadly, use computers, and wear variations of Western clothing.

The tone of the book is understated rather than preachy, and delivered in a relaxed conversational style. The author likes to let one thing stand for the whole, as when he writes that Harvard University lost a great deal of it's endowment funds during the recent financial debacle. It is well documented that many of Harvard's peer group did as well. Stanford, Notre Dame, Cornell, Princeton and many other elite institutions lost from 25 to 30 percent of their endowment funds, but rather than pound us with the details, the author elegantly lets one example stand for the whole.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 starsTwo Stars

Not as good as his earlier books, haven't finished it yet.... may never..

Published 16 days ago by Robert Bugg
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent read!

Published 20 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsJared is individually expert as well as an excellent researcher. His...

Jared is individually expert as well as an excellent researcher. His books are rational and well written. He reminds me of Desmond Morris, the author of "The Naked Ape". Read more

Published 23 days ago by Paul H.
5.0 out of 5 starsHighly Recommended

I absolutely love this book. Let's not romanticize man's past as a noble savage, this book tells you what they really were like. Read more

Published 1 month ago by A. Abram
2.0 out of 5 starsPoorly written and redundant.

This was poorly written and redundant. I found it a chore to read.

Published 1 month ago by elizabeth murphy
1.0 out of 5 starsReading "The Third Chimpanzee", "1491" and "New England Bound" ...

Reading "The Third Chimpanzee", "1491" and "New England Bound" at this time but I will get to "Collapse" and "The World Until Yesterday"... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Capt. Rob Clark
5.0 out of 5 starsSensitive Discussion of Man in the State of Nature

This is a brilliantly written and sensitive meditation on the author's experiences living in traditional, pre-modern societies in New Guinea. Read more

Published 1 month ago by CJA
2.0 out of 5 starsVery tedious reading!

Very tedious reading; about 300 pages too long for what he says! I've enjoyed his other books, especially Guns, Germs and Steel. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Bob Koscak
4.0 out of 5 starsGood book if you like this author.

If you like this author and his first book you will like this one.

Published 1 month ago by Avid Reader
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book

A wonderful comparison of modern and old of several elements that make our society. It was like taking multiple trips to an ancient world. Each trip was dedicated to a theme. Read more

Published 1 month ago by liv.s.s.

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