Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Chapter Summary & Analysis | 2003 Afterward "Guns, Germs and Steel Today"

2003 Afterward "Guns, Germs and Steel Today" Summary and Analysis

Diamond briefly identifies and discusses information that has come to light from other studies since the first publication of Guns, Germs, and Steel in 1997. The new information suggests that crops from Mexico spread into eastern North America via an indirect route through the southwest and that modern Japanese people resulted from an agricultural expansion from Korea. Diamond also briefly discusses several examples of groups conquering others whom when the possessed advanced weaponry and technology.

Another area of discussion that has arisen since the publication of the book is the question of why Europe expanded and conquered much of the globe and why China did not, given that both had many of the same advantages in Eurasia. Scholars have offered a number of different explanations for this, including that Europe's engine science gave them an edge over China. Other scholars have offered explanations similar to Diamond's, arguing that ecology and...
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