The Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, Jared Diamond in his third book of the monumental trilogy, reveals a new theory of how and why some nations recover from trauma and others don't. Diamond compares how six countries – Finland, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Germany, Australia, and the United States – have survived recent upheavals while adopting selective changes, a coping mechanism more commonly associated with individuals recovering from personal crises. Adding a psychological dimension to the in-depth history, geography, biology, and anthropology Diamond presents gut-wrenching histories experienced firsthand. Nativism, complacency, suspicion of neighbor – Upheaval warns that democracy is fragile and exposes factors influencing how both whole nations and individual people can respond to big challenges.