Ever since I read Guns, Germs, and Steel, and then more books like it, I started a mental category of “books that changed the way I see the world.” These books have a few things in common: they are non-fiction; they often span eras; they present grand theories based on solid evidence; they’re engagingly written for a relatively broad audience; in most cases, I couldn’t put them down, finishing them in a short amount of time, and then buttonholed all my friends telling them to read the...
