About the book
Jared Diamond's 2019 book studies how nations recover from crisis, drawing on how individuals cope with personal trauma. He compares six countries, with cases that include Japan after its forced opening by Commodore Perry's fleet, Finland under Soviet attack, coups in Chile and Indonesia, and Germany after World War Two. Diamond has lived in and speaks the language of five of the six. Factors he weighs include acknowledging responsibility, honest self-appraisal and learning from other nations' models. He also asks whether the United States, Japan and the world are handling present crises, and concludes that individuals learn from crisis more readily than countries do. It completes a trilogy with Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse.
Bill Gates, a fan of all of Diamond's work, said its case studies left him more optimistic about solving problems than when he started. Yuval Noah Harari called it an illuminating tour of how nations handle crises, and Steven Pinker praised its lessons for difficult times.
We hope you love the books people recommend! Just so you know, The CEO Library may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page.
This book has 3 recommendations
Bill Gates (Founder/Microsoft)
I’m a big fan of everything Jared has written, and his latest is no exception. The book explores how societies react during moments of crisis. He uses a series of fascinating case studies to show how nations managed existential challenges like civil war, foreign threats, and general malaise. It sounds a bit depressing, but I finished the book even more optimistic about our ability to solve problems than I started.
Yuval Noah Harari (Historian)
A riveting and illuminating tour of how nations deal with crises -- which might hopefully help humanity as a whole deal with our present global crisis.
Steven Pinker (Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, author)
Jared Diamond does it again: another rich, original, and fascinating chapter in the human saga, this one on how societies have extricated themselves from wicked crises-with vital lessons for our difficult times.
Get this book on Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books
See more books recommended by
Bill Gates, Yuval Noah Harari, Steven Pinker
See more books written by
Often recommended alongside
- Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong about the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund and Ola Rosling (2 shared recommenders)
- Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker (2 shared recommenders)
- Getting Better: Why Global Development Is Succeeding by Charles Kenny (2 shared recommenders)