Fall of Civilizations
Stories of Greatness and Decline
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Duckworth Books
Published:25th Apr '24
£25.00
Available for immediate dispatch.
Landmark world history from the creator of the Top Ten podcast Fall of Civilizations
Based on the podcast with over 100 million downloads, Fall of Civilizations brilliantly explores how a range of ancient societies rose to power and sophistication, and how they tipped over into collapse.
Based on the hit podcast with over 100 million downloads, Fall of Civilizations brilliantly explores how a range of ancient societies rose to power and sophistication, and how they tipped over into collapse.
Across the centuries, we journey from the great empires of Mesopotamia to those of Khmer and Vijayanagara in Asia and Songhai in West Africa; from Byzantium to the Maya, Inca and Aztec empires of the Americas; from Roman Britain to Rapa Nui. With meticulous research, breathtaking insight and dazzling, empathic storytelling, historian and novelist Paul Cooper evokes the majesty and jeopardy of these civilizations, and asks what it might have felt like for a person alive at the time as they witnessed the end of their world.
'Paul Cooper's histories of fallen civilizations are brilliantly written: clear, compelling, and ultimately chilling as we are forced to accept the lost genius of ancient cultures and the inevitable ruination of our own. Full of fascinating detail and nuanced findings, you need to read this book' Cal Flyn, journalist and author of Islands of Abandonment
'An instructive, engaging and compelling epic which reveals the fragility of human existence: magnificent triumphs and lamentable tragedies, the civilized and the barbarian. A timely tour de force of historical storytelling' Ron Ramdin, author of The Making of the Black Working Class in Britain
‘Cooper draws parallels between fears for our own future and the colossal wrecks of fallen empires so that we may marvel at them and, perhaps, learn from them’ Tim Leach, author of The Hollow Throne
PRAISE FOR THE PODCAST
'Excellent' Guardian
'A treasure trove of myths and terror… Atmospheric as hell… Immersive' The Times
'Paul Cooper has a historian's cool for what we know and what we don't... but a novelist's eye for vivid details' Seattle Times
ISBN: 9780715655009
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
544 pages