I haven’t read the book, but the axis argument needs a ton of support since it’s absolutely not true that the same crops were or could be cultivated at the same latitudes in Eurasia, in part because the same latitude still has a lot of different climates. For most of history, any given crop was confined to a pretty small area in Eurasia.
It’s also certainly not true that there were no large mammals in the Americas suitable for herding, nor that sweet corn was the only crop suitable for breeding for agriculture.
Everything I have come across of Diamond’s ideas suggest to me it’s not worth reading the book - which is one benefit of short-form low attention span mediums like the Internet. :)
"Diamond identifies a mere 14 domesticated large mammal species worldwide. The five most useful (cow, horse, sheep, goat, and pig) are all descendants of species endemic to Eurasia. Of the remaining nine, only two (the llama and alpaca both of South America) are indigenous to a land outside the temperate region of Eurasia."
"Smaller domesticable animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, and guinea pigs may be valuable in various ways to an agricultural society, but will not be adequate in themselves to sustain large-scale agrarian society."
It’s also certainly not true that there were no large mammals in the Americas suitable for herding, nor that sweet corn was the only crop suitable for breeding for agriculture.
Everything I have come across of Diamond’s ideas suggest to me it’s not worth reading the book - which is one benefit of short-form low attention span mediums like the Internet. :)