Fall of Civilizations Podcast

Episode 19: The Mongols - Terror of the Steppe

In the far east of the Eurasian steppe, the sound of hoofbeats is growing...

In this episode we travel along the vast grassland corridor of the steppe, to hear one of the most remarkable and unlikely stories from medieval history – the sto...

19. The Mongols - Terror of the Steppe (Part 2)

In the far east of the Eurasian steppe, the sound of hoofbeats is growing...

In this episode we travel along the vast grassland corridor of the steppe, to hear one of the most remarkable and unlikely stories from medieval history – the sto...

19. The Mongols - Terror of the Steppe (Part 1)

In the far east of the Eurasian steppe, the sound of hoofbeats is growing...

In this episode we travel along the vast grassland corridor of the steppe, to hear one of the most remarkable and unlikely stories from medieval history – the sto...

18. Egypt - Fall of the Pharaohs

Far in the distance, three colossal shapes tower over the desert horizon…

In this episode, we travel to the Nile Valley, and tell the story of one of the most iconic cultures ever produced by humankind – the civilizations of ancient Egyp...

17. Carthage - Empire Of The Phoenicians

Buried beneath the city streets of the Tunisian capital of Tunis, an ancient city lies forgotten...

In this episode, we look at one of the most dramatic stories to come down to us from the ancient world: the rise and fall of the empire of Ca...

16. Bagan - City Of Temples

In the lowlands of Burma lie the remains of thousands of crumbling temples...

In this episode, we tell one of the most colourful stories of civilizational survival: the story of the Bagan Empire of Myanmar. Find out how this kingdom rose up ...

15. The Nabataeans - The Final Days Of Petra

In the deserts of Jordan, a city lies hidden for centuries in a valley of rose-red stone...

In this episode, we look at one of the most peculiar stories of civilizational survival to come down to us from the ancient world, the story of the N...

14. Vijayanagara - The Last Emperors Of South India

On the rocky banks of South India's Tungabhadra River, an enormous ruined city lies crumbling...

In this episode, we look at the Vijayanagara Empire of Southern India, a civilization that has all but faded from memory in many parts of the wo...

13. The Assyrians - Empire of Iron

In the lowlands of Northern Iraq, a series of enormous cities lies crumbling in ruins...

In this episode, find out about one of the most remarkable ancient civilizations: the society known today as the neo-Assyrian Empire. Discover how the A...

Limited edition signed paperbacks available!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let everyone know that these amazing limited edition version of the Fall of Civilizations paperback are now on sale, with the marvelous sprayed edge design. And of course each copy is hand signed by me. I believe you ...

12. The Inca - Cities in the Cloud

High up on the craggy peaks of the Urubamba Canyon, a lost city lies wreathed in cloud...

In this episode, we explore the mountains of the Andes, and tell the story of the Inca Empire. Find out how these mountain people built the largest emp...

11. Byzantium - Last of the Romans

On the outskirts of modern Istanbul, a line of ancient walls lies crumbling into the earth...

In this episode, we look at one of history’s most incredible stories of survival - the thousand-year epic of the Byzantine Empire. Find out how t...

10. China's Han Dynasty - The First Empire in Flames

A city in ruins. A dynasty in tatters. An empire in ashes...

This episode, we look at the remarkable story of the first empire of ancient China, the Han dynasty. With ancient Chinese poetry, songs and folk music, we look back at the first em...

9. The Aztecs - A Clash of Worlds

Beneath the busy streets of Mexico City, a buried god lies waiting to be discovered...

This episode, we look back at the age of the Aztecs. Learn how this society grew from nothing to create one of the world's largest cities in the middle of...

8. The Sumerians - Fall of the First Cities

In the dusts of Iraq, the ruins of the world's first civilization lie buried.

This episode, we travel into the extremely distant past to look at the Sumerians. These ancient people invented writing and mathematics, and built some of the lar...

7. The Songhai Empire - Africa's Age of Gold

Today, the Songhai Empire is all but forgotten by history. But this medieval kingdom was once the most powerful force in Africa.

Find out how this civilization grew up on the fringes of the Sahara Desert, among some of the most extreme condi...

6. Easter Island - Where Giants Walked

On one of the world’s most isolated islands, hundreds of vast stone statues lie mouldering in the grass.

In this episode, we take a look at one of archaeology’s most enduring puzzles: the mystery of Easter Island. Find out how this uniq...

5. The Khmer Empire - Fall of the God Kings

Deep in the Cambodian Jungle, a ruined city crumbles among the roots of banyan trees.

In this episode, we look at the history of the Khmer Empire of medieval Cambodia, and the ancient mega-city of Angkor. I want to explore how this great ci...

4. The Greenland Vikings - Land of the Midnight Sun

One of the most unlikely tales of a society’s fall in is the incredible saga of the Vikings of Greenland.

Find out the history of how these European settlers built a society on the farthest edge of their world, and survived for centuries ...

3. The Mayan Collapse - Ruins Among the Trees

In the tropical forests of Central America, vast stone pyramids slowly crumble beneath the trees.

In this episode, we look at one of history's great romantic mysteries: the fall of the Classic Maya Civilization. Find out how this great civil...

2. The Bronze Age Collapse - Mediterranean Apocalypse (Audio)

Around the year 1100 BC, a wave of destruction washed over the Eastern Mediterranean. It wiped whole civilizations off the map, and left only ash and ruin in its wake.

This catastrophe, known as “the Late Bronze Age Collapse”, has becom...

1. Roman Britain - The Work of Giants Crumbled (Audio)

A vast ruined bath house, a fire-damaged poem and a world teetering on the brink of collapse.

In this episode, we look at the history of the collapse of Roman Britain. Find out how a great civilization grew up almost overnight on the island...

Episode 19 is now available with video!

[Apologies, something buggy has happened with patreon, and the video can now be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/127345857 ]

I'm very happy to announce ...

Sources for Episode 19

Allsen, Thomas T.. Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia. United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Ball, Warwick. The Eurasian Steppe: People, Movement, Ideas. Kiribati, Edinburgh Univer...

Episode 19. The Mongols - Terror of the Steppe (Part 2)

The second part of Episode 19.

Episode 19. The Mongols - Terror of the Steppe (Part 1)

Thank you to everyone for your patience in waiting for a new episode. It has been a crazy year, with starting a family and looking after a newborn. But this episode has been an absolute joy to work on. It's the story of easily the most momentous e...

Signed copies of Fall of Civilizations available!

We had such an amazing response from our community with our last batch of signed copies, and amazingly we completely sold out of them. I think the publisher was a bit taken by surprise at the response!

If you missed out on the first batch, I...

Publication day for Fall of Civilizations!

It's a very exciting day today, because this is finally going out into the world! Thanks to everyone on Patreon who has given such a great response to this book. The channel really has a brilliant community, and I'm so grateful to everyone who has...

Episode 18 now available with video for subscribers

Thanks to everyone for your patience in waiting for this one. This whole episode has now been 9 months in the making, from starting writing to finishing the video, and has been one of our longest and most sweeping episodes to date. It was also a r...

Sources for Episode 18

Highly Recommended Reading:

The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson

Writings from Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson

Edward Wente’s Letters from ancient Egypt

Miriam Lichtheim’s Ancient Egypti...