Collapse How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed

Fantastic review of what we are doing to the planet, with parallels drawn from civilisations that have vanished due to their poor management of their environment.

While not to be taken as gospel, this is another of Diamond's thought-provoking syntheses of a vast array of knowledge in an effort to explain why societies fail. This is a book that should be read and discussed and, most importantly, considered in light of America's present history.

Fascinating subject but poorly handled. The author is simply a poor writer, he has the knowledge and the vision but he does not have the skill. Both the structure and the prose are quite poor, Diamond often repeats himself with no reason but sometimes does not follow up on tangents that should be reinforced. I was really annoyed by the lack of references, they are present there at the end of...more

Fascinating subject but poorly handled. The author is simply a poor writer, he has the knowledge and the vision but he does not have the skill. Both the structure and the prose are quite poor, Diamond often repeats himself with no reason but sometimes does not follow up on tangents that should be reinforced. I was really annoyed by the lack of references, they are present there at the end of the book but what I'd like to see are inline references to actual studies, a book like that deserves them otherwise its just pure propaganda.   hide

This along with his earlier work, Guns, Germs, and Steel, is one of the best history works I have ever read and like the earlier work should be required reading in college if not high school. Focusing this time more on cultures failed rather than why some succeeded and others didn't, Diamond not only does an excellent job illustrating his points with copious (but engaging and very...more

This along with his earlier work, Guns, Germs, and Steel, is one of the best history works I have ever read and like the earlier work should be required reading in college if not high school. Focusing this time more on cultures failed rather than why some succeeded and others didn't, Diamond not only does an excellent job illustrating his points with copious (but engaging and very readable) research on economics, climatology, geology, geography, history, and political science but also gives truly engaging case studies, showing why the Norse Greenlanders, the Easter Island culture, the Maya, and so many other civilizations (some rather obscure) failed.   hide

I really dug Guns, Germs, and Steel (or as I call it--Why Indonesia Never Invaded Germany), so when Collapse came out, I bought it immediately. More anthro/archaeo perspective, only this time Diamond looks at famous failed societies and looks for a trend. The Norse settlements in Greenland, the Mayans, Easter Island, et cetera, are all examined and guess...more

I really dug Guns, Germs, and Steel (or as I call it--Why Indonesia Never Invaded Germany), so when Collapse came out, I bought it immediately. More anthro/archaeo perspective, only this time Diamond looks at famous failed societies and looks for a trend. The Norse settlements in Greenland, the Mayans, Easter Island, et cetera, are all examined and guess what--environments failed to support these societies after awhile and usually it occurred via human interaction. If you're listening, random congressionals from Oklahoma, it was via lack of conservation (ahem--from the same word root as "conservative") and "over" practices. Overfarming. Overfishing. Overgrazing. Overseeing irrigation diversion and the gradual over-salinization of soils through shortsighted water diversion. The chapter on the wasteful land use practices of Easter Island alone makes the case, but this book is well worth reading. Its purpose is not to turn everyone into a Sierra Club member, but I think it advocates a real close look at how we use our natural resources and how we could do it better. Some readers find Diamond's style repetitive, but I just cited every one of the "over" words, and I think that says a lot about his pedagogical skills. This book is a nice companion to Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded as well as The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production by Womack, Jones, and Roos.   hide

Una lectura instructiva y, sorprendentemente, sencilla. Es instructivo el repaso a las civilizaciones que, en un entorno ecológico a veces frágil - pero no siempre - tomaron decisiones que se revelaron desastrosas, terminando incluso en su total desaparición. Isla de Pascua, Vikingos en Groenlandia, Mayas, etc. son lecciones con MUCHAS similitudes con lo que ocurre actualmente en el...more

Una lectura instructiva y, sorprendentemente, sencilla. Es instructivo el repaso a las civilizaciones que, en un entorno ecológico a veces frágil - pero no siempre - tomaron decisiones que se revelaron desastrosas, terminando incluso en su total desaparición. Isla de Pascua, Vikingos en Groenlandia, Mayas, etc. son lecciones con MUCHAS similitudes con lo que ocurre actualmente en el planeta, con dos diferencias: i) nuestra capacidad de afectar el entorno ahora es muchísimo más grande que en entonces, ii) la quasi extinción de los habitantes de la Isla de Pascua no afectó a nadie más, ese aislamiento no existe ahora, cualquier shock en algún lado, lo sentimos todos en cualquier parte. Quizá existe un rasgo común más entre nosotros y ellos: la capacidad de negar el desastre por parte de grupos (muchas veces las élites) que se sienten aisladas del problema y que perderían privilegios enfrentándolo. Al final, como dice el autor, lo único que lograron esas élites fue de ser los últimos en morir de inanición.   hide

"Collapse" is an enjoyable read, and at times quite interesting, but you have to take everything Diamond writes with a grain of salt. For instance, the chapter comparing Haiti and the Dominican Republic is abysmal. It totally fails to take into account the role of imperialism, and specifically the use of extortionist debt by Europe and the United States, to keep Haiti (the world's first...more

"Collapse" is an enjoyable read, and at times quite interesting, but you have to take everything Diamond writes with a grain of salt. For instance, the chapter comparing Haiti and the Dominican Republic is abysmal. It totally fails to take into account the role of imperialism, and specifically the use of extortionist debt by Europe and the United States, to keep Haiti (the world's first predominantly black country to liberate itself, and one that did so from a position of slavery no less, when slavery was an ongoing practice throughout the hemisphere) subordinated and poor. For instance, Haiti only gained diplomatic recognition from the outside world in 1824 (having become independant in 1804) when it agreed to"repay" France (who had gunboats nearby) the equivalent of $21 billion for the loss of the slave colony. The impact of this debt, paid in order to stave off further invasion and reintegrate into the world economy, cannot be overstated in its role in making Haiti poorer than her neighbor, yet isn't mentioned once. There're many more flaws of this sort.   hide

First, in terms of content, oh man, we're doomed. There's an optimistic epilogue to both "Collapse" and "An Inconvenient Truth", but I remember thinking as the credits rolled to the latter, "not even Melissa Etheridge can save us now". But I guess we'll do what we can. Second, in terms of form, the author bills this book as a kind of sequel to...more

First, in terms of content, oh man, we're doomed. There's an optimistic epilogue to both "Collapse" and "An Inconvenient Truth", but I remember thinking as the credits rolled to the latter, "not even Melissa Etheridge can save us now". But I guess we'll do what we can. Second, in terms of form, the author bills this book as a kind of sequel to "Guns, Germs and Steel" - an explanation not of what put certain countries ahead in the second millennium but what's caused others to collapse. It's readable, scary, and as far as I can tell true, but it sometimes seems a little anemic. I guess for one the anthropologist in me wants to hear a more rigorous account of Anasazi, Mangarevan or Maya society - it feels like really understanding their collapse as more than a parable would call for more of an understanding of how their society worked in the first place. It seems a little rushed, and maybe that's because he's really trying to fit two books - one a historical record, and one a guide to current environmental crises - together. For this reason - as he admits - he ignores collapses and crises not of environmental origin, and I think a book that more thoroughly deserved its title would have to take account of the Soviet Union or (fair enough, here my own interests creep in) the Lebanese civil war, which would make the map on page 497 a lot more nuanced.   hide

A long read but fascinating. Easier to read than you might think from the subject matter and the size of the book. His summary of Australia's environmental problems makes for sobering reading. He also make it clear from the case studies in the book that we can't assume that things will somehow just work out for the best. HIs chapter on decision making and some of the factors that make it...more

A long read but fascinating. Easier to read than you might think from the subject matter and the size of the book. His summary of Australia's environmental problems makes for sobering reading. He also make it clear from the case studies in the book that we can't assume that things will somehow just work out for the best. HIs chapter on decision making and some of the factors that make it difficult for societies to take corrective action is particularly interesting. Fortunately he does make reference to societies where problems were effectively managed by people being prepared to make decisions and then actively implement them.   hide