Goliath's Curse - Why Societies Collapse and What it Means for Our Future

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.>

Report

An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation . . . The lessons he has drawn are often striking: people are fundamentally egalitarian but are led to collapses by enriched, status-obsessed elites, while past collapses often improved the lives of ordinary citizens . . . scholarly, but the straight-talking Australian can also be direct Damian Carrington Guardian

Product details

• Authors: Luke Kemp
• Publisher: Viking
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.07.2025
• EAN: 9780241741245
• ISBN: 978-0-241-74124-5
• No. of pages: 579
• Dimensions: 153 mm x 235 mm x 43 mm
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Regional and national histories; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, HISTORY / Civilization, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Future Studies, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Environmental Policy, HISTORY / World, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General, Social forecasting, future studies, General & world history, The environment, Social and cultural history, Sociology & anthropology, General and world history, Impact of science & technology on society, Impact of science and technology on society, Sociology and anthropology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Technology Studies