This three-part series brings to the screen Jared Diamond's sometimes controversial theories about the course of human civilization. Diamond's Pulitzer Prize-winning work offers a revealing look at the rise and fall of societies through the lens of geography, technology, biology, and economics-forces symbolized by the power of guns, germs, and steel. The series spans five continents and uses historical re-enactments to illustrate Diamond's theories, explaining why societies developed differently in different parts of the world-why some became conquerors and others the conquered.