DVD: 
Released by FremantleMedia Enterprises on 21st June Guns, Germs and Steel, based on the Pulitzer Prize-Winning book by scholar Jared Diamond, weaves together anthropology and science with epic historical reenactments. Available on DVD RRP £19.99, this fascinating series brings to life and attempts to answer the fundamental questions behind why some civilisations are conquered and others are conquerors.
Inspired by a question put to him on the island of Papua New Guinea more than thirty years ago, Diamond embarks on a world-wide quest trying to understand one of the big questions in world history: why is the world so unequal? The answers he found were simple, yet extraordinary.
This three-parter starts with Out of Eden. Evidence from Papua New Guinea to the Middle East supports Diamond’s theory that a society’s development may have had less to do with skill or ingenuity but more to do with an ability to raise high-protein grains and domesticated livestock
Conquest sees Diamond focus on Spanish conquistador Pizarro’s 16th-century assault on the Inca. Was it the Spaniards’ advanced weaponry that defeated the empire? Or was it also the Europeans' innate resilience to some infectious diseases—a resistance born of centuries of contact with domesticated animals?
In Into The Tropics Diamond extends his quest to Africa, probing early European attempts to colonise the continent. The conquerors were initially successful, repelling native attackers with rifles and Maxim guns but they met unexpected obstacles when they moved from temperate zones to the tropics. The debilitating scourge of malaria overwhelmed their mightiest resources.
These fascinating programmes from National Geographic were filmed across four continents in High Definition digital video, and combine ambitious dramatic reconstruction with moving documentary footage and computer animation.
Illuminating the past on a fantastic scale, entire civilisations and cultures are investigated. Guns, Germs, and Steel has enormous relevance for the present, as well as enduring interest for the future.
The DVD is released on June 21st, and is available on Amazon for £11.99 (RRP £15.99).
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