Can You Trust Jared Diamond?

Jared Diamond is a master of cultural and historical bricolage. His books weave epic stories about the human condition from the disparate cultural practices of a wide range of people living in different environments. In his Pulitzer Prize–winning Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond used this eclectic empiricism to tell a story about the role of geography in human history. In Collapse, he used the same approach to stage a morality play about the dangers of disregarding those geographic conditions. In his new book, The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?, Diamond probes the differences between modern cultures and traditional societies that subsist through hunting and gathering, and he comes to several bold conclusions about their relative merits. His examples are evocative and his narration is powerful, but Diamond ultimately fails to substantiate his arguments. By the end of the book, it is impossible to tell if one has finished reading a masterpiece of rigorous analysis or a masterfully written collection of just-so stories. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2013-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #human history #finished reading

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Trusted Media Brands Cuts Children’s Book Publisher

Thirty-one employees face layoffs, though magazine brands not affected. The post Trusted Media Brands Cuts Children’s Book Publisher appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2016-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #magazine brands #book publisher


iBooks Bestsellers: In Jojo We Trust

'Me Before You' maintains its reign over the #1 slot for the fourth week straight, with Moyes' 'After You' at #2. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chakrabarti joins judges for Book Trust Lifetime Achievement Award

One of Britain’s leading human rights campaigners and former director of political pressure group Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, has joined the judging panel for this year’s Book Trust Lifetime Achievement Award. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #judging panel #shami chakrabarti


YouTube's Dan the Diamond Minecart inks book deal

Trapeze is publishing a debut graphic novel by YouTuber Dan The Diamond Minecart. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #debut graphic


Boydell & Brewer becomes employee-ownership trust

Independent academic and trade publisher Boydell & Brewer has relaunched as an employee-ownership trust after 45 years in private ownership. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #private ownership #boydell brewer


Mark Zuckerberg says many conservatives don't trust Facebook to show 'content without a political bias'

As Facebook has taken on the mantle of content distributor, news publisher and story curator, the world's biggest social media company has ventured into the territory of traditional media companies. Such moves have helped Facebook attract users and advertising dollars -- but they have also... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #story curator #news publisher #mark zuckerberg #content distributor


Scottish Book Trust makes changes to children’s prizes

Scottish Book Trust is replacing its annual Children’s Book Awards with two new prizes; the Bookbug Picture Book Prize and the Scottish Teenage Book Prize. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #book awards #annual children


Diamond novels to Avon

Avon has snapped up two new psychological crime novels by Sunday Times bestseller Katerina Diamond. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Can Cash Back for Ad Fraud Make Brands Trust the Web Again?

Lexus dealers were so unnerved by online ad fraud a couple years back that they began urging Monica Mellier, group media director at the agency Team One, to redirect their ad dollars from digital media to legacy platforms such as TV or outdoor signs."We had a lot of conversations about how we... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2016-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #ad dollars


Diamond Book Rides Strong 2015 Comics Market

Describing 2015 as the second best year in its history, Diamond Book Distributors reports consumer interest in graphic novels continues to grow driven by demand for such popular series as Saga, Walking Dead, My Little Pony and the first two volumes of March. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #walking dead #popular series


National Trust launches children’s book festival

The National Trust is launching its first children’s book festival at Wray Castle in the Lake District in March. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #national trust #book festival


Poetry Trust's operations on 'pause' after funding difficulties

The Poetry Trust will cease to operate for the time being while it "takes a pause" to review its operations due to the "difficult funding situation in the arts at the moment." Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #funding difficulties #operations due


Book Trust launches 2015 advent calendar

Reading charity Book Trust has created an online advent calendar of books that children “would love to find under the tree”, featuring titles by authors such as J K Rowling, Matt Haig and Chris Riddell. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #chris riddell #matt haig #featuring titles


Shah appointed at Scottish Book Trust

SLIC c.e.o Amina Shah has today (29th October) been appointed as Scottish Book Trust’s new director of programme. The director of programme is a key post at the national charity promoting literacy and a diverse reading and writing community in Scotland. Working with the c.e.o. as part of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #strategic direction #writing community


Big Publishers to Online Advertisers: Trust Us (and No One Else)

Big online publishers have a message for marketers: Stop putting so much faith in technology and realize that we're the only ones you can trust.This argument runs counter to one of the core principles of online advertising. For several years now, the advertising industry has been increasingly... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #study conducted #large part #smaller publishers


At Diamond Summit, Cracks in Comics Market Come to Fore

At the annual Diamond Retailer Summit, held last week in Baltimore, the distributor reported that industry sales are up overall. However, comics publishers are tinkering with their publishing programs to compensate for slowing growth. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #slowing growth #publishing programs #comics publishers #industry sales #comics market


PW Asks: You Don't Trust Book Awards

This week we asked whether you trust the book awards committees to pick the best books. Turns out you don't. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Riddell doodles boost Book Trust

Chris Riddell and Macmillan Children’s Books are raising money for Book Trust with a new Doodle-a-Day diary, featuring 366 pages of ideas to encourage doodling (one for each day of the year and another for leap years). Riddell’s Doodle-a-Day, due for publication on 22nd October (£9.99), is an... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #raising money #macmillan children #book trust #chris riddell


BTBS merges with Matthew Hodder Charitable Trust

The Book Trade Charity (BTBS) and The Matthew Hodder Charitable Trust (MHCT) are to merge to form one organisation carrying the BTBS name. The merger will mean BTBS can now expand its education grants, alongside continuing its welfare support work. BTBS, under chief executive David Hicks, will... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scottish Book Trust launches young writers programme

Reading charity Scottish Book Trust today launched What’s Your Story?, a new programme to increase opportunities for young writers in Scotland. Funded by Time to Shine, Creative Scotland’s arts strategy for young people, the programme will connect young writers using writer groups, workshops,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #young writers #creative scotland