In the first episode of this documentary series based on his best-seller book, Jared Diamond traced the birth of human inequality to the invisible hand of geographic fortune and environmental vicissitudes.Having laid this foundation, Diamond now attempts to explain why, in November of 1532, fewer than 200 Spaniards arrived at the holy city of Cajamarca in the Incan Empire (where Emperor Atahualpa had come to celebrate his recent victory over his half-brother Huascar), and managed to slaughter over 7,000 Inca warriors while barely suffering any casualties of their own.
The Inca were a sophisticated civilization whose dominion extended throughout South America. They had managed to defeat virtually all their neighbors, and yet they fell prey to European guns, germs and steel. Jared Diamond explains why.
Click here to learn about the invention of writing, in particular as it refers to numbers, in this amusing documentary with Terry Jones from Monty Python.
.
I just read the book and watched the documentary recently and I must say, Diamond's argument convinced me thoroughly. As a historian-in-training, I find his approach to global history enlightening. His work has helped inspire a few entries at http://aglobalhistory.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI strongly recommend people read Diamond's book, or at least watch the documentary, and continue to explore the burgeoning field of global history.