I didn't realize it at the time, but I picked up this book almost exactly a year after I started reading Jared Diamond's previous work, Guns, Germs, and Steel. In a lot of ways, Collapse is the converse of that book—where GGS examines the environmental factors contributing to societal success, Collapse looks at reasons for societal failure. I found it to be a good read—Diamond writes in a very clear, easy-to-understand style—if, perhaps, a bit distressing. Finishing it found me left with a greater sense that I ought to do my part in living an environmentally responsible life, though I suppose in all honesty it remains to be seen whether or not that will last.

Started: 2006-04-14 | Finished: 2006-06-17

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