Jared Diamond’s New Book Examines Whether Individuals Shape History

Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings by Jared Diamond review – how to change the course of history

The author of Guns, Germs and Steels falters in this flawed study of whether individuals really make a difference Early in this book, Jared Diamond proudly introduces “what I term ‘the Hamlet test’”, which helps decide whether prominent individuals really make a difference, or whether others might have done just as well. Among William Shakespeare’s contemporaries on the Elizabethan stage, he explains, were “Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe and John Webster. But not even their best plays remote...

By Steven Poole