A“rivetingandilluminating“BillGatesSummerReadingpickabouthowandwhysomenationsrecoverfromtraumaandothersdon’t(YuvalNoahHarari),bythePulitzerPrize-winningauthorofthelandmarkbestsellerGuns,Germs,andSteel.InhisinternationalbestsellersGuns,GermsandSteelandCollapse,JaredDiamondtransformedourunderstandingofwhatmakescivilizationsriseandfall.Now,inhisthirdbookinthismonumentaltrilogy,herevealshowsuccessfulnationsrecoverfromcriseswhileadoptingselectivechanges--acopingmechanismmorecommonlyassociatedwithindividualsrecoveringfrompersonalcrises.Diamondcompareshowsixcountrieshavesurvivedrecentupheavals--rangingfromtheforcedopeningofJapanbyU.S.CommodorePerry’sfleet,totheSovietUnion’sattackonFinland,toamurderouscouporcountercoupinChileandIndonesia,tothetransformationsofGermanyandAustriaafterWorldWarTwo.BecauseDiamondhaslivedandspokenthelanguageinfiveofthesesixcountries,hecanpresentgut-wrenchinghistoriesexperiencedfirsthand.Thesenationscoped,tovaryingdegrees,throughmechanismssuchasacknowledgmentofresponsibility,painfullyhonestself-appraisal,andlearningfrommodelsofothernations.Lookingtothefuture,DiamondexamineswhethertheUnitedStates,Japan,andthewholeworldaresuccessfullycopingwiththegravecrisestheycurrentlyface.Canwelearnfromlessonsofthepast?Addingapsychologicaldimensiontothein-depthhistory,geography,biology,andanthropologythatmarkallofDiamond’sbooks,Upheavalrevealsfactorsinfluencinghowbothwholenationsandindividualpeoplecanrespondtobigchallenges.Theresultisabookepicinscope,butalsohismostpersonalyet.
BIOLOGY JAPAN Japan YUVALNOAHHARARI biology
