Good historical survey

Interesting history lesson to broaden one’s exposure and ponder the future. If new to Diamond, best to read G,G&S or 3rd Chimp before. They are much better. The narrator mispronounced a few things which a good producer should have noticed. Especially « Pinochet ». A bit long and repetitive, best enjoyed at 1.25x.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

The central idea is weak

The short historical case studies are interesting in themselves, but the central idea of the relationship between national crises and personal crises is rather weak and unconvincing.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great ideas in unnecessarily talkative book

The history described in this book is astonishing and I had no idea those events happened. the current crises are very thought provoking. the format of the book is hard to digest and unnecessarily talkative. And the audiobook is not easy to digest. eg it reads table and then references it the whole book

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

not Diamond's best

I enjoy the histories more than the analysis, and there was a lot of preaching to the choir about resource and environmental problems. The narration did a good job but occasionally sounded pedantic.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Interesting Analysis but a bit dry

To anyone unfamiliar with Jared Diamond's work the prologue and initial workup in this audiobook would be very off-putting. Diamond does not write in an entertaining style but his arguments are interesting. I found his descriptions of the national crises of Finland, Chile and Indonesia to be very interesting particularly Finland and the concept of Finlandization in light of Russia's relationship with another close neighbour Ukraine! Diamond tries to argue there are common threads to how a nation responds to crisis. To some extent this may be true. Although not discussed in this book was not Switzerlands neutrality in world war 2 similar to Finlands post-war neutrality. However every country is unique and how a country reacts in a time of crisis must be seen in light of the wider geopolitical situation and the power of that country to determine its own destiny. For example Chiles situation in the 1970s was determined by the politics of the cold war at the time, and the determination of the US not to have anything resembling another Cuba in the Americas at the time. Diamonds list of factors relating to outcomes of a national crisis to be weak at best which is probably why no African nation is included in this work. Weak government as a result of poor institutional development as so eloquently described in the much superior work "Why Nations Fail" by Darren Acemoglu and James Robinson takes into account historical development of a nation which is pretty much ignored by Diamond.
In summary interesting case discussions but his central argument that there are common factors in how a nation responds to a crisis is weak, even weaker is that individual crises can be compared to national crises.
An interesting book but a bit too academic for the casual reader.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

I felt like I was sitting in a University lecture

I have read some of the authors prior books which led me to this one. Sadly the content of this one was not as compelling and it’s delivery on Audible disappointing.
As for the content I found a number of the chapters felt dated and some of the narrative and conclusions shallow. In a couple of cases (Australia and Japan) the conclusions and opinions were also questionable.
But what I found most difficult with this book was it is not well suited for Audible. It has the pace and complex contents and details of a University text book and frankly was very difficult to listen to. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it in traditional sense (hard copy).

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

A wake-up call for some nations

An interesting comparison between very different states. Detailing the stories of upheaval across the globe and the story of bouncing back, cold comfort for those who have lived through such experiences.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Excellent recent time review

Having read some of the author's previous books like Collapse, it was great to see more analysis of recent times national crises. Found the analysis very interesting. The analysis on US democracy is particular relevant today as we see it unfold.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Interesting perspectives

I liked the authors effort to apply crisis management steps used by people towards crisis that have occurred in his selected countries.

It was interesting to consider Australia being in Upheaval. The author gave me some new perspectives on my home country due to his approach.

PS - thx for the recommendation Bill;-)

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Important book yet told in too many details

I love Gerard Diamond’s books. Guns germs AB has steel was a real life changer for me and Collapse was delightfully fascinating. This book isn’t bad but is somewhat written more like a scientific paper than a non fiction book. At times the scope is too much e.g a lengthy chapter about climate change. It’s definitely important but should have been left out of scope. Also there are frequent references to tables yet no PDF with details is available. I had to find the physical book in a shop, take photos of the table and keep them on my phone for reference. Still a worthy book with an interesting point of view.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful