From the Book - First Norton paperback edition.
Yali's question : The regionally differing courses of history
From Eden to Cajamarca. Up to the starting line : What happened on all the continents before 11,000 B.C.? ; A natural experiment of history : How geography molded societies on Polynesian islands ; Collision at Cajamarca : Why the Inca emperor Atahuallpa did not capture King Charles I of Spain
The rise and spread of food production. Farmer power : The roots of guns, germs, and steel ; History's haves and have-nots : Geographic differences in the onset of food production ; To farm or not to farm : Causes of the spread of food production ; How to make an almond : The unconscious development of ancient crops ; Apples or Indians : Why did peoples of some regions fail to domesticate plants? ; Zebras, unhappy marriages, and the Anna Karenina principle : Why were most big wild mammal species never domesticated? ; Spacious skies and tilted axes : Why did food production spread at different rates on different continents?
From food to guns, germs, and steel. Lethal gift of livestock : The evolution of germs ; Blueprints and borrowed letters : The evolution of writing ; Necessity's mother : The evolution of technology ; From egalitarianism to kleptocracy : The evolution of government and religion
Around the world in five chapters. Yali's people : The histories of Australia and New Guinea ; How China became Chinese : The history of East Asia ; Speedboat to Polynesia : The history of Austronesian expansion ; Hemispheres colliding : The histories of Eurasia and the Americas compared ; How Africa became black : The history of Africa
The future of human history as a science.
Prologue. Yali's question : The regionally differing courses of history
Part One. From Eden to Cajamarca
Chapter 1. Up to the starting line : What happened on all the continents before 11,000 B.C.?
Chapter 2. A natural experiment of history : How geography molded societies on Polynesian islands
Chapter 3. Collision at Cajamarca : Why the Inca emperor Atahuallpa did not capture King Charles I of Spain
Part Two. The rise and spread of food production
Chapter 4. Farmer power : The roots of guns, germs, and steel
Chapter 5. History's haves and have-nots : Geographic differences in the onset of food production
Chapter 6. To farm or not to farm : Causes of the spread of food production
Chapter 7. How to make an almond : The unconscious development of ancient crops
Chapter 8. Apples or Indians : Why did peoples of some regions fail to domesticate plants?
Chapter 9. Zebras, unhappy marriages, and the Anna Karenina principle : Why were most big wild mammal species never domesticated?
Chapter 10. Spacious skies and tilted axes : Why did food production spread at different rates on different continents?
Part Three. From food to guns, germs, and steel
Chapter 11. Lethal gift of livestock : The evolution of germs
Chapter 12. Blueprints and borrowed letters : The evolution of writing
Chapter 13. Necessity's mother : The evolution of technology
Chapter 14. From egalitarianism to kleptocracy : The evolution of government and religion
Part Four. Around the world in five chapters
Chapter 15. Yali's people : The histories of Australia and New Guinea
Chapter 16. How China became Chinese : The history of East Asia
Chapter 17. Speedboat to Polynesia : The history of Austronesian expansion
Chapter 18. Hemispheres colliding : The histories of Eurasia and the Americas compared
Chapter 19. How Africa became black : The history of Africa
Epilogue. The future of human history as a science. Who are the Japanese?
2003 afterword : Guns, germs, and steel today.