Jared Diamond's #GunsGermsandSteel exhaustively answers a core question of human history posed by a New Guinean friend, Yali. Why do core (developed world) countries have so many manufactured goods while peripheral (developing) countries have almost none?

Jared's thesis rejects the white supremacist idea that Eurasian people have intellectual or genetic superiority and proves that gaps in power are created by an unequal distribution of geographic and environmental advantages. These advantages include rich land for agriculture, animals that can be easily domesticated, axes of trade that helped colonizing countries develop the guns, germs, and steel that lead to their dominance.

If you haven't read Guns, Germs, and Steel, you should.