Books: Tale of two books - "Carnage and Culture" vs. "Guns, Germs, and Steel"

Much like the "nature" vs. "nurture" conflict that surrounds the development of the individual, there's a similar continuum present in how civilizations and cultures interact and develop. Human history is full of examples where a technologically superior invader crushed and defeated an unprepared foe - but why does this occur, when at a very fundamental level people are alike?

"Carnage and Culture," by military historian Victor Davis Hanson, reasons that the primary reason Western and Westernized civilizations win these conflicts is because the Western way of conducting war is inherently more successful. That doesn't mean that Westerners are better, or even that their warmaking is somehow more moral - it just means that a non-Western army has a tough time annihilating a Western army.

"Guns, Germs, and Steel" posits that the geographic conditions of Eurasia allowed denser populations, domesticated animals, and advanced technology. Peculiarities like arable land, grains, and available species led to the technological superiority that made the Conquistadors, for example, so lethal in battle.

Who's right? I'm not sure, but I'd wager the theory behind the formation and development of human civilization is too complicated to fit into a trade paperback. Thankfully, nearly all historians and anthropologists reject any kind of racial explanation for human history.