Jared Diamond’s ideas about human society and human nature continue to be enormously influential, and he is often cited as one of the first Western scholars to challenge earlier explanations that credited Europe’s colonial expansion to inherent racial superiority, instead emphasizing the role of geography and disease.

This article examines Jared Diamond’s myths and misconceptions on African history, showing that Diamond disregarded contemporary scholarship on African history, while simultaneously uncritically reproducing discredited theories of racial science that he ostensibly sought to challenge.