Jared Diamond
Geography, not genetics, determined the conquerors and the conquered in human history. Discover why the availability of domesticable plants and animals gave Eurasian societies a dominant advantage that shaped the modern world.
The transition to agriculture in regions with abundant domesticable flora and fauna created food surpluses that supported massive population growth and specialized labor.
Eurasia's horizontal continental axis allowed crops, livestock, and technological innovations to spread rapidly across similar climates, unlike the restrictive vertical axes of the Americas and Africa.
Successful animal domestication requires a strict combination of traits such as a docile temperament and rapid growth rate, which historically limited usable livestock to a few Eurasian species.