Guns, Germs, and Steel Subtitle: The Fate of Human Society Author: Jared Diamond [USA] Publisher: CITIC Press

In 1997, 25 years after Alex raised that thought-provoking question, Jared Diamond finally had the confidence to write and publish this book "Guns, Germs, and Steel". Once it was released, it immediately caused heated debates from all walks of life. Its subversiveness is self-evident. The first-mover advantage of civilization that modern Western society is proud of is attributed to the profound influence of environment and geography in this book. For a time, supporters of "racial superiority" had no way to refute it, because this physiologist put 13,000 years of human history in the research evidence of many disciplines such as evolutionary biology, anthropology, linguistics, and archaeology, and compared the development speed of various continents and multiple ethnic groups, which was well-founded. Diamond also won the Pulitzer Prize in the United States and the British Popular Science Award for this work.

Why did Europeans conquer the New World with guns, germs and steel, instead of Africans or Native Americans crossing the ocean to conquer Europe? Why do some societies have perfect social organizations and flourishing cultural achievements, while others are still in a primitive state without metal tools and living by hunting and gathering? What determines the distribution of power and wealth in today's world? This book attempts to answer the above questions. In Diamond's view, the emergence of food production enabled Eurasia to seize the opportunity for the development of civilization. Writing, technology, government, etc. are all "by-products" of food surplus; and the number of animal and plant species and the direction of the continental axis determine the leading and lagging of food production in various continents. This is the ultimate reason that affects the different historical development trajectories of different races. Therefore, the abundance of environment and resources nourishes Western civilization to take root firmly in fertile soil and bear fruit quickly, rather than the biological advantages of the race itself.

Today, the wheel of human history described by Diamond in the book is still moving forward, but the crisis faced by modern civilized society has long surpassed the dilemma of conquest and being conquered represented by guns, germs, and steel. However, when mankind as a whole is dealing with the threats of global climate change, infectious disease pandemics, nuclear weapons, and resource depletion, it can still find answers from the grand human history narrative of Guns, Germs, and Steel.

The 2022 new edition has been fully supplemented and revised, and a new Chinese preface to the book "To My Chinese Readers" written by the author has been added. The book is accompanied by an "Interpretation Book" with 15 authoritative experts who have jointly recommended and interpreted it.