This book asks the question: How come Europeans conquered the Americas 600 years ago rather than Native Americans conquering Europe? Jared Diamond is a Professor of Geography who happens to be a highly skilled biologist. So he is uniquely qualified to comment on factors to do with the genes in plants and animals that mean that they can be domesticated as well as the fact that Europe stretches from East to West whereas America stretches from North to South. It's quite a fat book but don't let that put you off. The chapters are self contained so you don't need to read a lot to understand what he is saying. In each chapter he clearly outlines what he is about to say and then summarises at the end of the chapter. There is also a lot of comment about historical events. It's such a brilliant hypothesis that it left me wondering where the catch is.
