History
by Jared Diamond
Yali's question
In 1972 a New Guinean politician called Yali asked Jared Diamond why white people had so much cargo, like steel axes and medicines, and New Guineans so little. This book is Diamond's answer. He finds it in geography, and rejects any idea that some peoples are cleverer.
Hear a sample · read by Laura
Diamond's chain of causes starts with food production. Where people farmed early, they grew spare food, and that fed people who didn't farm, such as chiefs, soldiers, scribes and metalworkers. Guns, germs and steel were the immediate causes of conquest. Farming was the deeper one behind them.
Only 14 species of big mammal were domesticated. Thirteen, including the horse, cow, pig and sheep, were Eurasian. The Americas had only the llama and alpaca. Africa south of the Sahara had none, because its animals were too fierce, jumpy or hard to breed. Zebras bite and dodge lassos.
Eurasia stretches east to west, so crops could spread along the same latitudes, with the same seasons and day length. Wheat from the Fertile Crescent reached Europe and India early. The Americas and Africa run north to south, across deserts and tropics, so farming spread far more slowly there.
Smallpox, measles and flu began as diseases of animals. Eurasians had lived beside their livestock for thousands of years and built up some resistance. Native Americans, with few domestic animals, had neither the diseases nor the resistance. Diamond argues European germs killed far more of them than European weapons did.
Yali's question
A New Guinean named Yali asked Diamond why white people had so much more cargo than his people.
Cajamarca
At Cajamarca, Pizarro and fewer than 200 Spaniards captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa.
Farming
The Fertile Crescent had wild grains and animals that could be tamed, so farming started there early.
East to west
Eurasia runs east to west, so crops spread easily through similar climates. The Americas run north to south.
Germs
Living close to farm animals gave Europeans diseases like smallpox, which killed far more Native Americans than guns did.
A story from the book
Francisco Pizarro and 168 Spanish soldiers captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa in front of an army of about 80,000. Diamond asks why it wasn't the other way round. Steel, horses and writing helped the Spanish, and smallpox had already killed the previous emperor and set off a civil war.
Hot take · true or myth?
China lost its early lead partly because it was so united.
True. Diamond argues one court decision could end China's treasure fleets in the 1430s. Europe's rival kingdoms meant Columbus, turned down by several rulers, could keep asking until Spain said yes.
One thing to try
Tonight, pick three things on your plate and look up where each was first farmed. Wheat came from the Fertile Crescent, rice from China, maize from Mexico and potatoes from the Andes. Diamond's point is that a handful of places tamed almost everything we still eat.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. Guns, Germs, and Steel comes with a Hot Take round and a Name That Idea round to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appYali's question In 1972 a New Guinean politician called Yali asked Jared Diamond why white people had so much cargo, like steel axes and medicines, and New Guineans so little. This book is Diamond's answer. He finds it in geography, and rejects any idea that some peoples are cleverer.
Farming came first; Thirteen out of fourteen; Which way the continent runs; Germs from the farmyard.
Tonight, pick three things on your plate and look up where each was first farmed. Wheat came from the Fertile Crescent, rice from China, maize from Mexico and potatoes from the Andes. Diamond's point is that a handful of places tamed almost everything we still eat.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from Guns, Germs, and Steel in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Hot Take round and a Name That Idea round to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
