Goliath's Curse

“A must-read for anyone concerned with the current state of the world. . . . Highly provocative, page-turning. . . . [Goliath’s Curse] is unique in its tone and style. It presents facts wrapped in an engaging set of narratives. . . . This book will reset everything you thought you knew about the rise and fall of ancient to modern civilisations (states)—with seriously worrying implications for understanding our current world political landscape.” —John Long, The Conversation

“In sparkling prose, Kemp carries us through thousands of years of history to demonstrate how civilizations rise and fall and rise and fall. I was transfixed. . . . It feels to me that American democracy is currently undergoing the most profound stress test in its history and Kemp has expertly diagnosed why that is.” —Andrew Ervin, Literary Hub

“Goliath’s Curse is best read as a call to channel apocalyptic angst into a productive political project, an appeal to combat oppression and inequality. . . . Today there is ample evidence that we live in a dark, ever more undemocratic, frighteningly unequal, and possibly doomed world. At a time like this, Kemp’s invitation to imagine what a better society could look like—and to believe that we might still avoid the worst outcomes—sounds a welcome note.” —Linda Kinstler, The Atlantic

“In the modern tradition of Big Books of human history like Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens and David Graeber and David Wengrow’s The Dawn of Everything, Goliath’s Curse provides a novel theory of civilizational development. . . . [It] feels something like reading the French economist Thomas Piketty filtered through Mad Max: Fury Road.” —Ed Simon, The New York Times Book Review

“Learned, provocative and deeply unsettling. . . . Exceptionally powerful, undeniably impressive.” —Andrew Lynch, Irish Times

“An invigorating look at big picture history across continents and millennia, and a survival manual to boot.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“[A] brilliant and unnerving debut. . . . Pointing to modern elites’ failure to address climate change, Kemp offers a Cassandra-like warning about the path today’s oligarchs have set. It adds up to a sweeping and dire vision of a world on the brink.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The lessons [Kemp] has drawn are often striking.” —Damian Carrington, The Guardian

“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, author of End Times

“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, author of Stolen Focus

“Anyone who doubts the importance of this conversation hasn’t been paying attention—the spectacle of the world’s richest man seizing chaotic control of the world’s most powerful nation underscores the author’s points about the corrosive effects of grotesque inequity. It’s clearly past time that we figured out how to build down the scale of our societies, in interesting but urgent ways.” —Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes The Sun

“This is the book on societal collapse that I had always hoped someone would write. It was worth the wait!” —Walter Scheidel, author of The Great Leveler

“Luke Kemp is a writer and thinker of great talent and probity, and Goliath’s Curse is an important, clarifying, and most of all timely contribution to our age of anxiety.” —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, staff writer at the New Yorker

“Citing Hobbes’s Delusion, Goliath’s Curse, and cobalt miners in the Congo, renowned existential risk specialist Luke Kemp looks both back into history and forward into the future, spelling out the dangers that we currently face and suggesting ways in which we might avoid the pitfalls leading to collapse, before our luck runs out. This is a brilliant and insightful book, guaranteed to keep you thinking during the day and wide awake with worry during the night.” —Eric Cline, author of 1177 B.C. and After 1177 B.C.

“Absolutely essential reading for understanding why past civilizations collapsed,
and how to protect our own from the same fate.” —Lewis Dartnell, author of The Knowledge

“A fascinating intellectual journey . . . This is a book that should be read—and a message that should be heeded—by anyone interested in achieving lasting human prosperity while preserving our planet.” —Professor Jim Bacchus, former Congressman, founding judge of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and author of Democracy for a Sustainable World

“A profound and mind-expanding book that challenges the existing narratives of societal collapse. Through a long-term lens, Kemp asks us to reconsider histories we thought we knew, a present we take for granted, and future perils we have yet to meet. This is a chillingly enlightening read that will reorient your understanding of the world and how it came to be.” —Richard Fisher, author of The Long View and senior editor at Aeon

“A great book. The history and plausible futures of collapse are set forth with incredible clarity and rigour. The worst outcome is—we hope—probably preventable if we are perceptive enough as a species, and plan enough to persevere against the stupidity and arrogance of the plutocrats in our midst.” —Danny Dorling, author of The Next Crisis

“Kemp shows that inequality breeds instability and true resilience lies in the democratisation of power. Important reading for anyone committed to a future beyond empire.” —Jason Hickel, author of Less Is More

“In this wide-ranging book Luke Kemp presents a fascinating multi-millenial panorama of how societies have emerged, flourished, but eventually collapsed. He then addresses the lessons this historical record offers for safeguarding humanity’s future, in an era when unprecedented global connectedness and technological advance could engulf our entire civilisation in a terminal catastrophe.” —Martin J. Rees, Astronomer Royal and author of Our Final Hour

“With a breathtaking sweep of history, Luke Kemp decodes the operating system of power and its recurring fatal error: the belief that dominance equals resilience. Goliath’s Curse reveals how, from the first empires to our digital age, the concentration of power has always been a precursor to collapse. By showing that our most enduring social structures are built not on command, but on collaboration, Kemp offers a profound argument for the power of plurality. An essential read for anyone building the more open, fair, and antifragile world we urgently need.” —Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador and founding Minister of Digital Affairs

“Erudite, detailed and urgent. A masterpiece of data-driven collapsology.” —Paul Cooper, author of Fall of Civilizations

“A brilliant, utterly convincing account of the evolution of human society and why we are probably reaching humanity’s end days.” —Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm

“A page-turning masterpiece and a necessary antidote to our age of crisis. If you like Jared Diamond you’ll love Goliath’s Curse. Compelling and profound.” —Roman Krznaric, author of History for Tomorrow and The Good Ancestor

“Goliath’s Curse is both a sweeping history and a forensic diagnosis of the systems that rule us and how they fall apart. This isn’t just about the past; it’s about the trajectory we’re on now. This book offers the clarity we desperately need in an overloaded, accelerating world.” —Nate Hagens, host of The Great Simplification