Guns, Germs and Steel | Book by Jared Diamond

A fascinating breakdown of the factors that led to different paces of development on each of the world’s continents. It demonstrates how the availability of crops that could be cultivated and animals that could be domesticated laid the foundations for Eurasian people to form complex societies, develop technology and build powerful weapons.

The most interesting part of the book (for me at least) was the mini case-studies used to demonstrate the arguments that Diamond makes. He looks in great detail at small, isolated societies (island societies in the Pacific) and demonstrates how his theories have played out on a small scale.

A great book to read before picking up The Silk Roads.