|
| Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive | 
 enlarge | Author: Jared Diamond
Publisher: Penguin
Category: Book
List Price: £10.99
Buy New: £5.52
You Save: £5.47 (50%)
New (34) from £5.52
Avg. Customer Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 4219
Media: Paperback
Pages: 592
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0140279512
EAN: 9780140279511
ASIN: 0140279512
Publication Date: January 26, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it June 20, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Diamond draws on both personal experience and hard scientific evidence to make the case that the way past civilizations responded to difficulties has much to teach us about how to avoid similar mishaps in the future.
To drive this point home, Diamond summarises what is currently known about the circumstances leading to the collapse of various historical societies including the Maya of the Yucatan peninsula, the natives of Easter Island and the Norse Greenland colonies, amongst others. These experiences are contrasted with those of other societies such as the Inuit and the hill tribes of Papua New Guinea, who survived against the odds having learned to adapt to their environment.
Diamond's account is fascinating and complex, if occasionally a little dry, and I respect his attempt to present the information from a non-partisan standpoint, although I did baulk a little when he began to heap praise upon the enlightened environmental practices of one particular oil corporation (I kid you not).
What emerges is a salutary lesson for contemporary society - especially regarding the complicity of some societies' leaders in their own destruction. With the planet's consumption of non-renewables increasing daily despite dire warnings from environmentalists and scientists alike, perhaps it is time for our leaders to take on board some of the ideas represented in the book and take action now to avoid the collapse of our own civilisation before it is too late.
Can get laborious, but a great inisght May 24, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A great insight into the environmental dangers that our world faces and the simple fact that we can not afford to ignore them. Its a book I would recommend to all but for the fact that it can become quite laborious to read. As previous comments have said its in great need of editing to make it so much more accessible for the general reader, as much of the book is full of repetition and in many places more information than is possible needed. That's not to say its badly written, Diamond continuously argues his points successfully, but it reads rather like a collection of text book case studies. These though are insightful and offer parallels with current society that we shouldn't ignore. To see how societies have made mistakes or prospered in the past really is fascinating.
If you have the patience to wade through the book then it's a must read, as you will feel that bit more enlightened on the actions our current society should be taking.
informative May 22, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Collapse is a very dense but readable book. It introduces us to a centrist environmental perspective. The word "environmentalist" nowadays is a broad umbrella term that includes green hippies (picture David Cameron cycling with his limousine trailing).
Jared Diamond's realistic approach on the other hand shows us that the rate of decay of a society is inversely proportional to the availability of resources.
This work is eye opening and left me moody at times due to its brutal reality. It also provides some nice archaeological facts and applies the past to the present.
Not for the light hearted (unless they want a rude awakening)
 Lessons From History - Doomed to Repeat PAst Mistakes? May 16, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
The author sets out his theory of why societies collapses, identifying 5 key factors that are present in some degree or another as to why some civilisations failed.
He presents a balanced, fairly detailed summation of the likely reasons why certian societies collapsed, and similar, related societies survived - e.g. the viking settlements on Orkney, Shetlands and Iceland exist to this day, Iceland is one of the richest per capita countries in the world, yet the viking settlement on Greenland disappeared (while the inuits survived).
I found this book to be well written and fascinating, genuinely educational, and the criticisms it has received from other reviewers are unfair and petty.
The chapters on Australia's ecological crisis are genuinely disturbing.
I found myself chatting to friends about intersting snippets gleaned from Mr Diamond's book, made myself sound all clever and interesting (yeah right) - but anyway, cheers for the read JAred, top marks from me.
Al
16 05 07
Pretty interesting book, but slightly repetitive April 18, 2007
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
Before you buy this book you need to ask yourself a few questions. Firstly, am I looking for a casual read, or something a little "heavier" and deeper? Secondly, are you prepared to brave out "dull" chapters to reach the better ones? Finally, do you mind the fact a similar theme is described in different ways in each chapter.
Concerning the first question, this book is most definitely not casual reading, and requires a level of interest and commitment beyond an airport novel, contrary to what the attractive front cover and font suggests. Concerning the second question, there are some great chapters, but these are typically reached only after slogging through slightly less engaging and often quite lengthy ones. Finally, the reader will quickly notice that the same themes are re-emerging in each chapter, which can make some readers feel this book is repetitive.
The book has a number of weaknesses, one of the biggest being the rather dull and uninspiring opening chapter. Indeed, it is hard to get excited about soil pH in Montana, especially when the book's opening cover promises us Aztec ruins. After this however, the story moves one, and there are some genuinely interesting insights into the mysterious civilization on Easter Island, as well as insights into the collapse of the Viking settlers in Greenland. Having said this, the basic story running through each civilization is environmental collapse, economic hardship that triggers inter-ethnic feuds and one group survives and the other doesn't. Alas this repetitive theme is recounted in each chapter, the only particulars being the names of the warring humans and their exact location on the globe. Not helping this is the author's habit of making the dull chapters very long, and giving the reader the impression that he/she will have to plough on for what seems like an eternity before reaching the interesting looking next chapter.
The book touches on a very important topic, and is attractively packaged. Also, there some genuinely interesting chapters, with useful bullet point summaries of what will be covered at the start of each one. However, the book is let down by its repetitive themes, and its placing of boring chapters at the start and end of the book, and thus ignoring the maxim "Start well, end well". The book can be genuinely interesting to the right reader. I would recommend using a pencil to underline points of interest, as it is a difficult book to read twice, and thus pencil notes will allow you to see what you focused on when you flick read at a later date. All in all, not a bad book, but not a world beater.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
