Like Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, Clive Ponting's book studies the relationship between the environment and human history. It examines world civilisat

Provocative and rich in illuminating detail, sanely and calmly argued to view the nature of history with new eyes.

This book starts from the assumption that the human story has to be seen in the round, examining the evolution of humans, their lives as hunters and gatherers a

In an important work that forces readers to view history with new eyes, Ponting shows in compelling detail how, over and over, human beings throughout history h