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    <id>182193</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Radhika]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
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  <id type="integer">1842</id>
  <isbn>0739467352</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780739467350</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">2185</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Guns, Germs, and Steel]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>14889</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[According to the author, an alternative title would be A short history about everyone for the last 13,000 years.  But the book is not merely an account of the past; it attempts to explain why Eurasian civilizations, as a whole, have survived and conquered others, while attempting to refute the belief that Eurasian hegemony is due to any form of Eurasian intellectual, moral, or inherent genetic superiority. Diamond argues that: the gaps in power and technology between human societies originate in environmental differences amplified by various positive feedback loops; and that, if cultural or genetic differences have favored Eurasians (for example Chinese centralized government, or improved disease resistance among Eurasians), it is only so because of the influence of geography.]]>
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<authors>
    <author>
    <id>256</id>
        <name><![CDATA[Jared Diamond]]></name>
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    <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
    <ratings_count>25063</ratings_count>
    <text_reviews_count>3725</text_reviews_count>
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  </authors>  <published>1997</published>
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    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>8</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[Humanists, geographers, omnivorous readers]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Aug 24 11:03:41 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Sep 04 11:02:32 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I give this book 4 stars because it has some very interesting ideas that provoke thought and inquiry.  It also offers plausible explanations that often ring true.  I don't give it 5 stars because it suffers from certain drawbacks.<br/><br/>I love his analysis and interpretation of causes that show...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5048071">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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