Somewhere between Jared Diamond and Jacopo della Quercia lies Dan Carlin. In his latest Hardcore History podcast (Show 32 - Globalization Unto Death), he looks at how a handful of nations on the western periphery of the Eurasian landmass managed to take over and – for a while – totally control the world.
Any podcast that gets me thinking about race, history, economics and an old Animaniacs song has got to be worth listening to.