content: I am impressed by Diamond's willingness to dive into areas outside his specialialization. To me that is the great strength of this book, it's an ambitious attempt to give a general theory of human "development". The problem of course, is that specialists will find fault with the details, that is inevitible in such a work. In general I agree with Diamond's view that the "success" of Europeans in conquering the world came down mostly to geograpical luck. Yes, there is the objection that culture also plays a part, but that doesn't deny that geography was the key thing. Overall, a fascinating book, very ambitious, and readable for non-academics. Not without flaws, but with this approach, that's inevitible, and I don't feel that distracts from the book's considerable strengths.