In his bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now he joins us to present Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis, the final installment of his monumental trilogy. Diamond reveals how successful nations recover from crisis through selective change—a coping mechanism more commonly associated with personal trauma. In a dazzling comparative study, Diamond identifies patterns across seven countries which have survived defining upheavals in the recent past through a process of painful self-appraisal and adaptation—from US Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan to the Soviet invasion of Finland to Pinochet’s regime in Chile. Diamond investigates whether the United States, and the world, are squandering our natural advantages and placing ourselves on a path towards political conflict and decline. Join Diamond for an urgent and groundbreaking revelation on how individuals and nations alike can become more resilient.

Jared Diamond is the author of multiple bestselling books, including Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse. A noted polymath, is Professor of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles. Among his many awards are the U.S. National Medal of Science, Japan’s Cosmos Prize, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, a Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, and election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

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