Jared Diamond

Why do some societies flourish, while others fall? Will we go the same way, our skyscrapers one day standing derelict and overgrown like the temples at Angkor Wat? Jared Diamond explores the mysterious collapse of past civilizations - and what this means for our future.

This is a whirlwind tour through 13,000 years of history on all the continents - a short history of everything about everybody. It provides an explanation for the differing developments of human societies on different continents and demolishes the grounds for racist theories of history.