"Based on the podcast with over one hundred million downloads, Fall of Civilizations ... 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 ... research, ... insight, and ... 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"--Provided by publisher.

Part I. The ancient world. The Sumerians -- The late Bronze Age collapse -- Assyria -- Carthage -- Han China -- Roman Britain -- Part II. The Middle Age. The Maya -- The Khmer -- Byzantium -- Vijayanagara -- Part III. Worlds collide -- Songhai -- The Aztecs -- The Inca -- Easter Island.