Tim Leach, the Dylan Thomas Prize-shortlisted author of the Sarmatian Trilogy, has praised Fall of Civilizations, Paul Cooper‘s history on the rise and fall of ancient civilisations:

“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.”

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.

Fall of Civilizations will be released on 25th April. Pre-order your copy here now.

You can find out more about Paul here and subscribe to his podcast here.