It explores what people living in the Western world can learn from traditional societies, including differing approaches to conflict resolution, treatment of the elderly, childcare, the benefits of multilingualism and a lower salt intake.

Abby O'Reilly of The Independent called it "essential reading" that "cements [Diamond's] position as the most considered, courageous and sensitive teller of the human story writing today.

"[1] In The New York Times, David Brooks' review was mostly positive; but he lamented the lack of individual indigenous voices in the book, calling it "curiously impersonal.

Ethnobotanist Wade Davis said both the scope of the "lessons" drawn and the range of ethnographic evidence used to support them was limited, characterizing it as "a book of great promise [that] reads as a compendium of the obvious, ethnology by anecdote.

"[3] Indigenous leaders in West Papua[4] and indigenous rights organization Survival International[5] objected to Diamond's characterization of tribal societies as violent.