Understanding Collapse

Guy D. Middleton studied Ancient History and Archaeology at Newcastle University, where he won the Shipley Prize. For his PhD at the University of Durham he studied the collapse of Mycenaean states around 1200 BC. His works on collapse include: 'Nothing Lasts Forever: Environmental Discourses on the Collapse of Past Societies' (Journal of Archaeological Research, 2012) and The Collapse of Palatial Society in Late Bronze Age Greece and the Postpalatial Period (2010). He also has a BA in Humanities and English Language and an MEd in Applied Linguistics and has worked extensively with international students. As well as teaching at universities in the UK, he has lived and worked in Greece, Korea, and for some years at the University of Tokyo, Japan. He is now a Visiting Fellow in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at Newcastle University.

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; Preface; 1. Introducing collapse; 2. Egypt: the old kingdom falls; 3. Akkad: the end of the world's first empire; 4. The Indus Valley: a truly lost civilisation?; 5. The end of Minoan Crete; 6. The kingdoms of Mycenaean Greece; 7. The Hittites and the Eastern Mediterranean; 8. The fall of the Western Roman Empire; 9. Collapse and revolution in Mesoamerica; 10. The classic Maya collapse; 11. Collapse in the Andes; 12. Angkor and the Khmer; 13. The incredible survival of Rapa Nui; 14. Conclusions; 15. Bibliographic essay.

'Middleton's book is the best introduction to 'collapsology'. It carefully dissects theories, especially grand theories, and marshals data so that the reader can see what collapses (and what doesn't) in major cases from Rome and Egypt to the Maya and Easter Island. It is informative from beginning to end and gracefully written.' Norman Yoffee, University of Michigan