Jared Diamond asks, wrestles with, and then answers the fundamental questions involved with humanity's last 13,000 years. Rather than concentrate on post-literate societies composed mostly of Caucasians from European descent, Diamond deals with the entirety of world history. The driving force of this work is the question of why history should "unfold differently on different continents"; whereas previous attempts to answer this have been rooted in racism, circular reasoning, or misconceptions, Diamond attempts to deal with the question factually and thoroughly. Although written for the general reader, this is a challenging work due to its wide-ranging scope and somewhat esoteric knowledge base. Diamond's willingness to ask and answer tough questions with honesty, scholarship, logic, and integrity make this tome well worth the investment. Fatbrain reviewed this book and the publisher's summary, and found that the summary accurately reflects the book's contents. Related Titles: Jared Diamond has also written the well received The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal and the provocative Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality. Diamond contributes to Edge, the Internet discussion group whose collective wisdom is contained in The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2,000 Years. Other members of the Edge community, notable for theirprofound writing on a myriad of topics, include Lee Smolin, author of The Life of the Cosmos; Stewart Brand, whose