---Plot/Intro---
Nothing lasts forever. One can point to any past human civilization and identify when and how it collapsed. The stories vary as much as people do though over time, patterns become obvious. From being small and nimble among larger, atrophied powers to later suffering from the same hubris that led to those powers to fade into irrelevancy. In Fall of Civilizations, we take a trip across time and the globe via an interesting historical survey of when disaster—sometimes quick, oftentimes messy, and always tragic—turned greatness into nothingness.

---Review---
Admittedly, this was a book that was on my radar for awhile that was frequently being put off. When it comes to non-fiction books on subjects such as religion and history, I try to focus on books written by those with the academic credentials to back them up. Thus, on its face, we get almost a negative double whammy on that front: a book not by a historian but a fan of history and also one based on a podcast. But wait! Can a historical survey—a theme often dry in nature—actually turn into something entertaining when written by someone coming from this background? And can it remain reasonably accurate?

Fortunately, the answer to both is yes. The best way to succinctly describe Fall of Civilizations is a big and well-researched look at why civilizations collapse written by someone who seems more interested in simply telling why it happened based on previously available records rather than injecting their own opinions (although the author does a bit of the latter in the epilogue but it’s on a subject most can agree with: the biggest threat against our current civilization may not be nuclear war, but global warming).

Jumping from empire to empire and fortunately avoiding ones that may be too familiar, this book was more than a simple historical refresher of what I learned in school, but provided looks at countries and kingdoms I only knew in passing. Rome is covered, yes, but it’s hyper-focused on London Rome. And while most have heard of the Byzantine Empire, how it functioned after the split and how it ultimately fell as a hollow shell may be new to many. Easter Island concludes the survey and by far offers the most tragic tale that I won’t spoil here.

A well-written book that can serve as a springboard to lengthier and perhaps more authoritative works on each empire covered. Recommended.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.4 (99 ratings)
Price	$0.99
Category	Ancient Civilizations

Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline