Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

...is our December selection.

Update: Found this Jared Diamond essay written 1987 "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race" here.

Here are comments about Guns, Germs, and Steel in response to a review by Bradford Delong, an economist.

At Cornell, I found a page with links to comments about Diamond's book. The first, about Yali, is worth reading.

Here is a page with a bit of criticism.

The NY Times reviews this book.

My quick comment on this book: It seemed as though reading this amazing book was like peeling an onion, especially towads the end. I enjoyed reading this book about the 'big picture'. But, correct me if I'm wrong, it seemed as though he didn't cover a few areas about humans that I really think are important, such as the role of religion and the role of world view and how that affects conquest. The questions I pose are these: do you think he adequately answered Yali's question in his book? Why did he leave the areas of worldview and religion out of this book?

Don Quixote and Pushkin

The New York Times reviews two books relevant to our bookclub: one is a new Don Quixote translation and the second is a review of a new Pushkin biography.

wood s lot

This blog is a gem: wood s lot