A fascinating yet sometimes boring look at why the human world developed like it did.

Very dry and a bit presumptuous.

Interesting, but dry and repetitive.

Great book. It would work as a text book to university students.

This book was almost awesome, but it is way too detailed and dry to be compelling. It is easy to get lost in the nested parentheticals of how Diamond proves his case one tiny Lego block at a time it’s a shame, because this is such important material. The book really should be a New Yorker article, or something 16 the size, with the rest of the material in the end notes for anyone interested in the excruciating detail.

This was interesting, even though it wasn't really what I expected. It's packed with a lot of information and reads more like a historical accounting than a novel. I learned much more about anthropology than I thought I might! If anthropology is something that interests you, I'll highly recommend this book. But it's narrated in a very dry way, with quick pacing and a monotone delivery. There are few (if any) pauses to let you think about what you just heard. It's narration makes it feel like a textbook that tries hard to be devoid of feeling or humor.