Along with the domestication of livestock, this book emphasizes food production as the major factor in the sustenance and development of civilizations.  
It contains sections like "From Egalitarianism to Kleptocracy," "Yali's People," and "Blueprints and Borrowed Letters." In this work the author suggests that the history of Polynesia serves as a microcosm for the overall phenomenon of conquest and expansion of nations.  Along with the domestication of livestock, this book emphasizes food production as the major factor in the sustenance and development of civilizations.  For ten points, name this 1997 work that explains how the Europeans were able to conquer the New World due to the titular entities, a work by Jared Diamond.
It contains sections like "From Egalitarianism to Kleptocracy," "Yali's People," and "Blueprints and Borrowed Letters.
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies