Books Collapse

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond explores the reasons behind the collapse of various past societies and contrasts them with societies that have managed to persist.
The book examines a five-point framework of potential factors contributing to societal collapse, including environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, friendly trade partners, and a society's responses to its environmental challenges. Diamond uses historical case studies, such as the Polynesian cultures on Easter Island, the Anasazi, the Maya, and the Viking colony on Greenland, to illustrate these patterns of catastrophe and resilience.