{"product_id":"goliath-s-curse-the-history-and-future-of-societal-collapse-paperback","title":"Goliath’s Curse The History and Future of Societal Collapse (Paperback)","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eA radical retelling of human history through collapse, and\nwhat it means for our uncertain future\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eA radical retelling of human history through collapse - from\nthe dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first\ncentury and beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eFEATURED IN THE NEW BBC SERIES CIVILISATIONS- RISE AND\nFALL\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e‘A brilliant, utterly convincing account of the evolution of\nhuman society and why we are probably reaching humanity’s end days’ HENRY MARSH\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e‘Absolutely essential reading for understanding why past\ncivilisations collapsed, and how to protect our own from the same fate’ LEWIS\nDARTNELL\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eFor the first 300,000 years of human history,\nhunter-gathering Homo sapiens lived in fluid, egalitarian civilizations that\nthwarted any individual or group from ruling permanently. Then, around 12,000\nyears ago, that began to change.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eAs we reluctantly congregated in the first farms and cities,\npeople began to rely on novel lootable resources like grain and fish for their\ndaily sustenance. And when more powerful weapons became available, small groups\nbegan to seize control of these valuable commodities. This inequality in\nresources soon tipped over into inequality in power, and we started to adopt\nmore primal, hierarchical forms of organization. Power was concentrated in\nmasters, kings, pharaohs and emperors (and ideologies were born to justify\ntheir rule). Goliath-like states and empires - with vast bureaucracies and\nmilitaries - carved up and dominated the globe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWhat brought them down? Whether in the early cities of\nCahokia in North America or Tiwanaku in South America, or the sprawling empires\nof Egypt, Rome and China, it was increasing inequality and concentrations of\npower that hollowed these Goliaths out before an external shock brought them\ncrashing down. These collapses were written up as apocalyptic, but in truth\nthey were usually a blessing for most of the population.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eNow we live in a single global Goliath. Growth obsessed,\nextractive institutions like the fossil fuel industry, big tech and\nmilitary-industrial complexes rule our world and produce new ways of\nannihilating our species, from climate change to nuclear war. Our systems are\nnow so fast, complex and interconnected that a future collapse will likely be\nglobal, swift and irreversible. All of us now face a choice- we must learn to\ndemocratically control Goliath, or the next collapse may be our last.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e‘An excellent survey of human history through the collapses\nof Goliath-like kings, states and empires’ OBSERVER\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e‘A comprehensive overview of societal collapse, based on the\nanalysis of dozens of cases spanning thousands of years from the Paleolithic to\ntoday. Highly recommended’ PETER TURCHIN\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e‘A deeply sobering and strangely inspiring history of how\nsocieties collapse - and how we can still save ours. Read it now, or your\ndescendants will find it in the ruins’ JOHANN HARI\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e‘Like reading Thomas Piketty filtered through Mad Max’ NEW\nYORK TIMES\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout The Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eLuke Kemp \u003c\/b\u003eis a researcher focused on existential\nrisk, climate and environmental policy. \u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eHe is a research affiliate at Centre for the Study of\nExistential Risk (Cambridge) and an honorary lecturer at Australian National\nUniversity (ANU). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eHe holds a PhD in international relations and a first-class\nhonours degree in interdisciplinary studies from ANU. Luke examines how climate\nchange, emerging technologies and systemic risks threaten human civilisation —\nand has advised institutions including the World Health Organization (WHO) and\ngovernments on environmental policy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eHe is author of Goliath’s Curse (2025), which traces five\nmillennia of civilisations collapsing and argues our modern global system is\ndangerously fragile — urging reforms to avoid catastrophic futures\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"TIMES DISTRIBUTION PTE LTD","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45270360850639,"sku":"9781405974899","price":29.98,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0574\/5662\/3823\/files\/download_e7a7862a-a172-40d0-a58a-434b81a0a80b.webp?v=1781421472","url":"https:\/\/popular.com.sg\/products\/goliath-s-curse-the-history-and-future-of-societal-collapse-paperback","provider":"Popular Book Company Pte Ltd","version":"1.0","type":"link"}