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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Book review

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Book Review of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

Book adaptation

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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is a 2005 book by academic and popular science author Jared Diamond, in which Diamond first defines collapse: "a drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time." He then reviews the causes of historical and pre-historical instances of societal collapse — particularly those involving significant influences from environmental changes, the effects of climate change, hostile neighbors, trade partners, and the society's response to the foregoing four challenges— and considers the success or failure different societies have had in coping with such threats.