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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

About this title: In this fascinating book, Diamond seeks to understand the fates of past societies that collapsed for ecological reasons, combining the most important policy debate of this generation with the romance and mystery of lost worlds.

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed used book

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

price: $1.99

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Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Viking Adult Date Published: 2004 ISBN-13: 9780670033379 ISBN: 0670033375

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Trade paperback Publisher: Penguin Books Date Published: 2006 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Good. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 576 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Trade paperback Publisher: Penguin Books Date Published: 2006 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Good. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 576 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more

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Book: Good

 

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Viking Books Date Published: 2005 ISBN-13: 9780670033379 ISBN: 0670033375

Description: Good. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 592 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more

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Book: Good

 

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Viking Books Date Published: 2005 ISBN-13: 9780670033379 ISBN: 0670033375

Description: Good. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 592 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more

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Book: Good

 

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Softcover Publisher: Penguin Books Canada, Limited, Toronto, ON, Canada Date Published: 2006 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Very Good. read more

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Book: Very Good

 

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Paperback Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Date Published: 12/27/2005 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Good. 0143036556 Unmarked text. read more

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Book: Good

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

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Binding: Paperback Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Date Published: 2005-12-27 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Good. Text is clean, binding tight. Cover in good condition.100% guaranteed. No hassle return policy. read more

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Book: Good

 

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

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Binding: Paperback Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Date Published: 2005 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

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Book: Very Good

 

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

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ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more

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Book: Very Good

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Collapse: How Civilizations Fail and Disappear and the Lessons for the Modern World used book

Collapse: How Civilizations Fail and Disappear and the Lessons for the Modern World

by Diamond, Jared M.

price: $7.37

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Binding: Softcover Publisher: PENGUIN GRP USA Date Published: 2005 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: G to VG. read more

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Book: Good

 

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Collapse How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Viking Adult, NY Date Published: 2005 ISBN-13: 9780670033379 ISBN: 0670033375

Description: VG/VG. Minor shelf wear. Mild soiling at page edges. Pages clean, binding solid.; 575 pages. read more

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Book: Very Good

 

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by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Trade Paperback Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Date Published: 2005-12-27 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Like-New. Format: Trade Paperback. Year: 2005. Slight shelf wear. read more

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by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Trade paperback Publisher: Penguin Books Date Published: 2006 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Corners curled and covers creased. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 576 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more

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Book: Good

 

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by Diamond, Jared

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Edition: First Edition Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Viking Date Published: c2005 ISBN-13: 9780670033379 ISBN: 0670033375

Description: Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 0670033375. Several b/w photos, indexed, 576 pages, a nice solid copy, pages bright, previous owner's name, else VERY GOOD, in an attractive dustjacket, in a new clear mylar DJ cover. read more

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Book: Very Good

 

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: PAPERBACK Publisher: Penguin Books ISBN-13: 9780713998627 ISBN: 0713998628

Description: Good. 0713998628 Good to very good. Minor edge wear. Spine creases. Pages are very good. No highlighting. No underlining. read more

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Book: Good

 

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by Jared Diamond

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ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

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by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Paperback Publisher: Penguin, NY USA Date Published: 2006 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Photos. Near Fine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" read more

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Book: Very Good

 

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by Jared Diamond

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ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed used book

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

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Binding: Paperback Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Date Published: 2005-12-27 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: New. FIRST PAPERBACK EDITION: EIGHTH PRINTING: Trade Paperback: Published by Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group. Wraps in Excellent condition. Spine smooth; binding tight. Glossy Photo (B/W) insert. Pages crisp, clean and unmarked. Professionally and securely packaged, with Tracking Number. read more

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by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Viking, New York Date Published: 2005 ISBN-13: 9780670033379 ISBN: 0670033375

Description: Photographs. Good in Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Clean, good binding, some pages were folded at corners, book corners are bumped. read more

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by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Softcover Publisher: Penguin Books, NY: Date Published: 2006 ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: Very good copy in Trade Paperback. 575, 1 tape repair to front cover. read more

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by Diamond, Jared

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Binding: Paper Back Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) ISBN-13: 9780143036555 ISBN: 0143036556

Description: New. THIS IS A NEW BOOK! Book has almost no shelfwear; Check out my performance reviews. My customers LOVE my service! Delivery confirmation available for every item shipped. Reliable customer service and no-hassle return policy. read more

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by Diamond, Jared

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Edition: First edition. Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Viking Books Date Published: 2005 ISBN-13: 9780670033379 ISBN: 0670033375

Description: New in new dust jacket. First Edition, First Print. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 592 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more

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Book: New

 

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goodreads rating 5 out of 5 5 out of 5
Sep 19, 2009
By Cade, Tulsa, OK

"I thought this book was great. Really thought provoking. Discussing various civilizations and how they 'chose' to fail or succeed. Some societies chose to not assimilate into the cultures they joined or adapt to the lands in which they traveled to and they paid the price through the collapse of their society. They chose to grow traditional crops from their homelands, even if the land would not sustain them. They chose to not live like or associate with the 'heathen' outsiders of the new lands and thus did not learn the skills necessary to survive the winters and environmental hardships of that new, unknown land.

Other societies made choices to survive. They chose to limit their populations through birth control and continuous expedition when they knew they lived in lands with scarce resources. They chose to not deplete their resources. They chose to assimilate and learn from people that did know how to survive. They knew that if they did not find a way to adapt to their environs or to work with other peoples, then no one would survive, or at least their society would not survive.

Societies survive when they make sustainable choices. Societies collapse when they chose to deplete their resources, live beyond their means, and refuse to adapt to the world around them.

Very interesting to look at the societies that have failed and those that have succeeded. What can we learn from these societies? What are we doing to make sure we are not making the same mistakes that lead to collapse? Which path are we on?"

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goodreads rating 3 out of 5 3 out of 5
Sep 16, 2009
By Melani, Dayton, OH

"Really this is probably a four star book. It is a well researched and very informative book about the collapse of societies past, present, and future, due to environmental factors. Though I was glad that I read it,I do have some nitpicking to do around the subject of its inaccessible length and repetitive nature. In general, it is not a very readable book. For all of his desire to make these ideas about our environmental peril known to the general public, he has written a rather dry (parched dry -- really, really dry) and academic tome. If this book was any longer, we would have been into mulitiple volumes. I found myself saying, "Alright, I get it -- lets move on..." And as long as I am nitpicking, the pictures that came as an insert in the middle of the book -- pictures being the key way to grab the attention of the difficult reader -- were almost an afterthought. These pictures, which seem like a small thing, were really a symbol of how out of touch Diamond is with what drives those he might want to convince. Not only were they hard to tie to the text in some cases, but when they were tied to the text, half the time it was to a part of the text that was relatively uninteresting. That being said, I did feel very glad that I had read the book. His methodical approach leaves you feeling very sure that the environmental problems he poses are real and that the danger is eminent. If you weren't going to read the whole book, at least read the chapter with his rebuttals of the one liner excuses that most people give for not caring about the environment... He has done a good job writing this book in so many ways -- but has missed an opportunity to reach out of the echochamber of already-environmentally-concerned into the regions of the environmental-heathen.

There are lots of other things that you could say about this book. It is fodder for a semster worth of discussions. However, thats jsut its problem -- it is written like a text book."

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goodreads rating 5 out of 5 5 out of 5
Aug 30, 2009
By Chris, Washington, DC

"This is a very well researched, surprisingly readable academic argument that societies built on environmentally fragile areas often collapse when they misuse their environment. Using past examples of societies that failed because of poor environmental management, Diamond makes a strong argument that in our times we are following similar poor decision-making processes. The first two thirds of the book was mostly examples of this pattern, so hard-pressed readers with little time can probably skip some of them once they've got the general idea of what Diamond is going after. The final two chapters of the book are really fascinating and should deserve a re-read, or at least an exploration of his further reading section, because they deal with why societies make poor choices that lead to long-term consequences, and what we can do about it now. But the whole book is indeed a really great read, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in humans' interaction with their environment in history."

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Customer rating: 2 out of 5 2 out of 5
Long book, Jul 2, 2009
By Jekyll, Kingsport TN

"I normally read very fast and enjoy reading, but this book puts me to sleep."

0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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15 of 17 (88%) customers said they would recommend this book to a friend.

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