In a sweeping journey around the globe, Jared Diamond explores how tribal people approach essential human problems, from health and diet to conflict resolution and language, and discovers that they have much to teach us. These traditional societies offer an extraordinary window into how our ancestors lived for most of human history – until virtually yesterday, in evolutionary terms.
In a riveting journey into the recent past, he traces how six countries have survived defining catastrophes – from the forced opening of Japan to the Soviet invasion of Finland to Chile’s brutal Pinochet regime – through selective change, a coping mechanism more commonly associated with personal trauma. Looking ahead to the gravest threats we face in the future, he asks, what can we learn from the lessons of the past?