Goliath’s Curse

A brilliant, utterly convincing account of the evolution of human society and why we are probably reaching humanity’s end days – Henry Marsh, author of DO NO HARMA deeply sobering and strangely inspiring history of how societies collapse - and how we can still save ours. Read it now, or your descendants will find it in the ruins – Johann Hari, author of STOLEN FOCUSA comprehensive overview of societal collapse, based on the analysis of dozens of cases spanning thousands of years from the Paleolithic to today. Highly recommended – Peter Turchin, author of END TIMESAbsolutely essential reading for understanding why past civilisations collapsed, and how to protect our own from the same fate – Lewis Dartnell, author of THE KNOWLEDGE: How to Rebuild Our World After An ApocalypseErudite, detailed and urgent. A masterpiece of data-driven collapsology – Paul Cooper, author of FALL OF CIVILIZATIONSIn this wide-ranging book Luke Kemp presents a fascinating multi-millennial panorama of how societies have emerged, flourished, but eventually collapsed. He then addresses the lessons this historical record offers for safeguarding humanity’s future, in an era when unprecedented global connectedness and technological advance could engulf our entire civilisation in a terminal catastrophe – Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, founder of CSER, and author of Our Final CenturyLuke Kemp is a writer and thinker of great talent and probity, and Goliath’s Curse is an important, clarifying, and most of all timely contribution to our age of anxiety – Gideon Lewis-Kraus, staff writer at the New YorkerA page-turning masterpiece and a necessary antidote to our age of crisis. If you like Jared Diamond you’ll love Goliath’s Curse. Compelling and profound – Roman Krznaric, author of THE GOOD ANCESTORA great book. The history and plausible futures of collapse are set forth with incredible clarity and rigour. The worst outcome is - we hope - probably preventable if we are perceptive enough as a species, and plan enough to persevere against the stupidity and arrogance of the plutocrats in our midst – Danny Dorling, author of THE NEXT CRISISThis is the book on societal collapse that I had always hoped someone would write. It was worth the wait! – Walter Scheidel, author of The Great Leveler

Luke Kemp is a research associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge. He has a background in human geography, international relations and economics, all of which he tutored or lectured in at the Australian National University (ANU). His research has been covered by media outlets such as the New York Times, the BBC and the New Yorker.