Turnaround

End of the trilogy that began with the award-winning Guns, Germs and Steel .

In Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse , Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes a civilization rise or fall. In Turnaround , the third book in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crises by adopting selective change—a coping mechanism more commonly associated with individuals recovering from personal crises.

Crises and pressures for change affect individuals and groups at all levels, from a single person to teams, businesses, nations, and the entire world. Crises can arise from external pressures—such as when a person is abandoned by a spouse or becomes a widow, or when a nation is threatened or attacked by another. They can also arise from internal pressures—such as when a person becomes ill or a nation faces civil strife. Successfully dealing with external or internal pressures requires selective change—for both individuals and nations.

Diamond analyzes and compares how seven countries survived upheavals—Japan's forced opening to trade by American Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet in the 19th century, the Soviet Union's attack on Finland, the violent coups and counter-coups in Chile and Indonesia, the transformations in Germany and Austria after World War II, and the forces and major problems identified in the United States today. Having lived and learned the languages of five of these countries, the author presents firsthand stories. These nations have experimented, to varying degrees, with mechanisms such as acknowledgment of responsibility and honest self-assessment, and have learned to recover from models from other nations. Looking to the future, the author examines whether the United States, Japan, and the rest of the world are successfully dealing with the serious crises they face. Can we learn from the past?

By adding a psychological dimension to the deep knowledge of history, geography, biology, and anthropology characteristic of the author's works, Reviravolta reveals the factors that influence responses to major challenges—faced by both individuals and entire nations.