What's at the top of Bill Gates' summer reading list? The new book by Jared Diamond, The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies? Gates says he's “excited” to read Diamond's latest work “partly because the subject sounds interesting, but mostly because [he's] a big fan of the author.” He continues: “There aren’t many other writers who go as broad and as deep as he does.” The Microsoft business magnate also encouraged others to join in and read the book with him.
“Like a lot of people, I was blown away by Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel,” Gates also says. “I had never read anything that explained so much about human history.” Gates has become a respected book critic, and a nod of approval from the Microsoft co-founder comes highly regarded. He will be releasing a full review of The World Until Yesterday later this month. Until then, he is optimistic that Diamond's book on modern and traditional society will be as powerful as his other work. (In the video embedded above, Diamond gives a keynote about the material in his book.) “I’m sure it will be a great read,” Gates concludes, “because Diamond has such an interesting and wide-ranging mind.”
