Collapse : how Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Locations
Call Number: BOCD 304.28 Di, Adult BOCD / Nonfiction / Social Science / Diamond, Jared M
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Traverwood Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	BOCD 304.28 Di	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult A/V 4-week checkout	Adult BOCD / Nonfiction / Social Science / Diamond, Jared M	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Compact discs.
Unabridged.
Read by Michael Prichard.
"What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Moving from the prehistoric Polynesian culture on Easter Island to the doomed Viking colony on Greenland and finally to the modern world, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of catastrophe, spelling out what happens when we squander our resources, when we ignore the signals our environment gives us, and when we reproduce too fast or cut down too many trees. Environmental damage, climate change, rapid population growth, and unstable trade partners, and pressure from enemies were all factors in the demise of the doomed societies, but other societies found solutions to those same problems and persisted. Huge in scope, clear and passionate in style, Collapse is destined to take its place as one of the essential books of our time, raising the urgent question: How can our world best avoid destroying itself?"--Container.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Too Detailed, Too Dry submitted by Sara W on June 21, 2011, 8:52am I'm very sad to admit that I could not read this book, but I have attempted it multiple times in various formats and I just plain do not like it. The subject matter is fascinating - when the details of it are not being repeated several times in slightly different ways or the author is informing you that what you are learning here, in Chapter One, will be touched on again later. In Chapter Four. Thanks for the update, Diamond.

After reading through most of the very long Part I pertaining to Montana (where the author has spent a great deal of time, readers will be informed, ad nauseum) I bailed for the first time. I picked it up again a few months later and tried this time to pick up where I left off. When I finally tackled it on audio CD, (Diamond's writing can't be more boring than traffic!) I skipped right ahead to Easter Island. And I STILL couldn't make myself stick to it. I found myself switching off my CD player and scanning AM radio stations for something more captivating.

I sought this book out and gave it chance upon chance because of an article about Diamond's book and research by Malcolm Gladwell in 2005. Great article, but beware. I'm glad to know what I know about these societies, I'm glad Jared Diamond is out there, researching and discovering and forming brilliant conclusions. I'll just have to read about them in digest form. Sorry, Jared. Sorry, Vikings