Fall of Civilizations

These concise histories of 12 vanished civilizations began as a series of podcasts but prove unexpectedly cohesive and powerful coming together as an audiobook. Author Paul Cooper's narration is distinctly accented and a bit repetitive in his cadences; nonetheless, he is an effective and highly agreeable guide through four millennia of strife and mayhem. Cooper's chapters encompass the growth and heyday, as well as the devastation, of empires, offering together a concise history of civilization itself. Marvelous and rich in information and insight, Cooper's reconstructions are judicious, balanced, inclusive, and often heartbreaking--for example, the Spanish sailor infected with smallpox who wiped out two million people in Central America. Implicit are the history's warnings about the common agents of decline: prolonged irrigation, deforestation, drought, and civil discord. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine