Why Civilizations Fail

I was surprised how brief this book was, but Ophuls really covers the ground needed to lead to inescapable and powerful conclusions. It's not a pretty forecast, but it's hard to find fault with any of his analysis. I've been interested in this topic for a long time so I had read many of his reference materials already. I'm not sure this book would work well as an introduction, but then, I can't really speak to that.

In his million-copy best seller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond examined how and why Western civilizations developed the technologies and immunities that allowed them to dominate much of the world. Now in this brilliant companion volume, Diamond probes the other side of the equation: what caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates?

In his million-copy bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond examined how and why Western civilizations developed the technologies and immunities that allowed them to dominate much of the world. Now in this brilliant companion volume, Diamond probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates?