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.

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 Aztecs of Central America; 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 ancient civilizations, and asks what it might have felt like for a person alive at the time to witness the end of their world.

Praise for Fall of Civilizations

“A treasure trove of myths and terror… Atmospheric as hell… Immersive.” –The Times.

“Paul Cooper is a phenomenon… Cooper addresses a new public in new ways, through a mastery of anecdotage and accessible storytelling.” -Max Hastings, The Sunday Times.

“Excellent.” –The Guardian.

“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, award-winning 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, historian, biographer and novelist.

“Evocative stories of lost civilisations, vividly written and compellingly researched. Like any good ghost story, these tales touch upon our fears for our own future (climate collapse, corruption and political decay, destructive outside forces), but Cooper never makes these parallels feel forced or twists the history to favour his own purposes, allowing these colossal wrecks of fallen empires to stand alone so that we may marvel at them and, perhaps, learn from them.” -Tim Leach, Dylan Thomas Prize-shortlisted author of the Sarmatian Trilogy.

Find Fall of Civilizations at Amazon.