A radical retelling of human history through collapse – from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond.
** FEATURED IN THE NEW BBC SERIES CIVILISATIONS: RISE AND FALL **
** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER **
‘A brilliant, utterly convincing account of the evolution of human society and why we are probably reaching humanity's end days’ HENRY MARSH
'Absolutely essential reading for understanding why past civilisations collapsed, and how to protect our own from the same fate' LEWIS DARTNELL
For the first 300,000 years of human history, hunter-gathering Homo sapiens lived in fluid, egalitarian civilizations that thwarted any individual or group from ruling permanently. Then, around 12,000 years ago, that began to change.
As we reluctantly congregated in the first farms and cities, people began to rely on novel lootable resources like grain and fish for their daily sustenance. And when more powerful weapons became available, small groups began to seize control of these valuable commodities. This inequality in resources soon tipped over into inequality in power, and we started to adopt more primal, hierarchical forms of organization. Power was concentrated in masters, kings, pharaohs and emperors (and ideologies were born to justify their rule). Goliath-like states and empires – with vast bureaucracies and militaries – carved up and dominated the globe.
What brought them down? Whether in the early cities of Cahokia in North America or Tiwanaku in South America, or the sprawling empires of Egypt, Rome and China, it was increasing inequality and concentrations of power that hollowed these Goliaths out before an external shock brought them crashing down. These collapses were written up as apocalyptic, but in truth they were usually a blessing for most of the population.
Now we live in a single global Goliath. Growth obsessed, extractive institutions like the fossil fuel industry, big tech and military-industrial complexes rule our world and produce new ways of annihilating our species, from climate change to nuclear war. Our systems are now so fast, complex and interconnected that a future collapse will likely be global, swift and irreversible. All of us now face a choice: we must learn to democratically control Goliath, or the next collapse may be our last.
'An excellent survey of human history through the collapses of Goliath-like kings, states and empires' OBSERVER
'A 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
'A 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
'Like reading Thomas Piketty filtered through Mad Max' NEW YORK TIMES
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Goliath’s Curse 9780241741238 Hardback
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The future of humanity
This is probably the most important book I have read in my 83 years. I have long been interested in what our species has done and is doing to the planet, particularly to the millions of other species we share it with, increasingly through our numbers. We are 8.2 billion increasing at some 80 million…
This is probably the most important book I have read in my 83 years. I have long been interested in what our species has done and is doing to the planet, particularly to the millions of other species we share it with, increasingly through our numbers. We are 8.2 billion increasing at some 80 million annually. Luke Kemp focuses on what we are doing to ourselves, not so much through our numbers, though he refers to that, as to how we manage ourselves. Quite well it seems when we were small hunter/gatherer communities but increasingly detrimentally with the development of nation states, of which he reviews the modus operandi of some 300 over the past 5,000 years. The saying ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ comes to mind. Leaders increasingly focus on things that benefit themselves rather than the led. States seek more wealth, and power, through subjugation of other states, called wars. Independent commercial organisations follow a similar path, spread themselves over many states, to the extent they acquire greater power than some states. Science delivers steadily more useful tools inherently beneficial to mankind. Exceptionally powerful tools such as atomic bombs may be developed and monopolised by powerful states, others such as Artificial Intelligence by rich, powerful private enterprises. Unintended side effects like climate change may arise. Kemp explores how such developments including 10,000 nuclear warheads held by nine countries now threaten mankind. Finally he goes into some detail on what steps are needed to reduce and remove these several and potentially catastrophic threats to humanity. It’s a tall order. One is making the world more equal through taxation. From 1944 – 1963 the USA had an income tax > 90% on the highest earners. The highest rate now is 37%. Another is a cap on wealth – Kemp suggests $10 million. He reminds us that during the spread of Covid-19 governments took far-reaching measures that previously seemed unthinkable. Another is to urge all to never accept a job with any of the damaging transnationals such as the major oil companies. Many things have to be done by many people. Be one of them.
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The future of humanity
I believe this is the most important book I have ever read in my 83 years.
- Authors:
- Kemp, Luke
- Year Published:
- 2025
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Format:
- Hardback
- ISBN:
- 9780241741238
- Number of Pages:
- 592
- Publication Date:
- 31/07/2025
- Publisher:
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Language:
- English
- Place of Publication:
- London
- SKU:
- 9780241741238