Guns, Germs, and Steel
by Jared Diamond
★ Top 5 book of 1997 · #3 on Best Books of 1997
Jared Diamond spent more than thirty years traveling the world to answer a single big question: why are societies so unequal? The book presents his search as an epic detective story.
Best for: Curious readers who want a sweeping explanation for global inequality
Guns, Germs, and Steel is #3 on BookWard's Best Books of 1997, out of 27 1997 books that cleared our data bar.
What Guns, Germs, and Steel is about
Why did some parts of the world end up with the wealth, weapons and diseases that let them dominate others, and not other regions? Jared Diamond starts from a question put to him by Yali, a Papua New Guinean politician, who wondered why white people had so much 'cargo' while his own people had so little. Diamond's answer rejects any claim that one group is smarter, morally better or genetically superior. Instead he points to environment and geography: the plants and animals available to farm, and the shape of a continent, with Eurasia's east-west axis helping crops and technologies travel. Small early advantages, he argues, were amplified by feedback loops.
Drawing on biology, anthropology, geography and history, the book offers a confident, argumentative sweep. It suits curious readers who want a big-picture explanation of global inequality and are happy to follow a long, scholarly case.
Guns, Germs, and Steel on the Best Books of 1997
Guns, Germs, and Steel came out in 1997. Of the 27 books first published in 1997 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #3 on our Best Books of 1997 list.
Why it made the list: 1,089 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (153 ratings); 56 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 1997 list
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone J. K. Rowling, #1
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert T. Kiyosaki, #2
- The Adventures of Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey, #4
- The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle, #5
See all Best Books of 1997 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1996 Best Books of 1998.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 844 want to read it, 56 are reading it now and 189 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.1 out of 5 from 153 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 85 | 55% |
| Reader love | 89 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 85 | 20% |
Questions about Guns, Germs, and Steel
When was Guns, Germs, and Steel published?
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond was first published in 1997.
Was Guns, Germs, and Steel one of the best books of 1997?
Guns, Germs, and Steel is #3 on BookWard's Best Books of 1997, out of 27 1997 books that cleared our data bar. 1,089 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (153 ratings); 56 are reading it right now.
Why is Guns, Germs, and Steel on the Best Books of 1997 list?
1,089 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (153 ratings); 56 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 1997
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone J. K. Rowling, #1
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert T. Kiyosaki, #2
- The Adventures of Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey, #4
- The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle, #5
- Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer, #6
- The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy, #7
See the full Best Books of 1997, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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