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Review
“An excellent introduction to the magnificent world of the rulers of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean, and then their dramatic and simultaneous fall. Cline brings us up to date with the latest academic thinking on what happened… which is that we still don’t really know, but there are plenty of fascinating clues.”
—Anthony Webb, Popular History Books“
1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed is a thoughtful analysis of one of the great mysteries of human history. . . . Highly recommended.”—James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review“
1177 BC still offers the best treatment of the subject that is currently available. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend that you do.”—Josho Brouwers, Ancient World Magazine“[An] engaging book. . . . Cline builds a convincing case for his theory over a long and absorbing tour of the Late Bronze Age.””
—Josephine Quinn, London Review of Books“[T]his work masterfully incorporates the present state of research into a welcome reevaluation of a period less known to the general public, the crisis of Late Bronze Age civilization. . . . [E}ven more brilliant is the spin on the similarities between the predicament of this area three millennia ago and now.”
—Barbara Cifola, American Historical Review“A detailed but accessible synthesis. . . . [O]ffers students and the interested lay antiquarian a sense of the rich picture that is emerging from debates among the ruins.”
—Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed“A fascinating look at the Late Bronze Age, proving that whether for culture, war, economic fluctuations or grappling with technological advancement, the conundrums we face are never new, but merely renewed for a modern age.”
—Larry Getlen, New York Post“A gripping mystery story with clues to follow and evidence to analyze.”
—SG, Ancient Egypt Magazine“A remarkable book that brings forth not just a piece of history, but also lessons from the past.”
—Mihai Andrei, ZME Science“A wonderful example of scholarship written for the non-expert. Cline clearly pulls together the engaging story of the interactions among the major empires of the Late Bronze Age and puts forth a reasonable theory explaining why they seem to have evaporated as quickly as moisture on a hot afternoon.”
—Fred Reiss, San Diego Jewish World“Cline admirably acknowledges areas of existing scholarly controversy, while understandably emphasizing the consensus view in order to maintain the flow of his narrative. . . . He has a firm command of the textual, archaeological, and environmental evidence, and brings together a wealth of recent scholarship in an accessible form, a treatment which has been sorely lacking for this pivotal period. . . . [A] fine book.”
—Erin Warford, European Legacy“Cline expertly and briskly takes the reader through the power politics of the fifteenth, fourteenth, and thirteenth centuries BC with excursuses on important archaeological discoveries and introductions for each of the major players. No reader with a pulse could fail to be captivated by the details.”
—Dimitri Nakassis, Mouseion“Cline explores a vast array of variables that could have led to the disruption of the society of this era, including earthquakes, famines, droughts, warfare, and, most notably, invasions by the ‘Sea Peoples.'”– “Publishers Weekly”
“Cline has created an excellent, concise survey of the major players of the time, the latest archaeological developments, and the major arguments, including his own theories, regarding the nature of the collapse that fundamentally altered the area around the Mediterranean and the Near East.”
—Evan M. Anderson, Library Journal“Cline has written one of this year’s most interesting books.”
—Jona Lendering, NRC Handelsblad“Cline is clearly in command of the textual record and his reading of it is the book’s real strength.”
—A. Bernard Knapp, History Today“Cline’s book is something special in ancient history writing. . . . The book is up to date in its research, covers a lot of ground, is careful in its conclusions, and will be referred to and cited by students of Aegean and eastern Mediterranean prehistory, discussed by the scholarly community, as well as read by the interested public. Cline has done a good job of bringing the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean to a very wide audience.”
—Guy D. Middleton, American Journal of Archaeology“Cline’s work reveals eerie parallels between the geopolitics of the first years of 12th century B.C. and today’s 21st century.
1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed is history, but reads like a good mystery novel. Cline draws readers into his tale, revealing surprises throughout. It is all the more fascinating for being true, and for its relevance to today’s world.”—Mark Lardas, Daily News“Eric H. Cline has written a work of great scholarship, but has written in a manner so that the non-expert . . . can not only understand, but also appreciate it.”
—Don Vincent, Open History“Essential.”
—Thomas F. Bertonneau, Brussels Journal“Extremely valuable for scholars, yet . . . easily understandable by general readers.”
—Richard A. Gabriel, Military History Quarterly“Fascinating. . . . [A]voids the tedium of so many academic writers.”
—Bruce Beresford, filmmaker“Fresh and engaging.”
—Andrew Robinson, Current World Archaeology“I don’t know when I’ve appreciated a book as much as
1177 B.C. If you enjoy learning, you will enjoy this book! Highly recommended.”—Thomas A. Timmes, UNRV History“In this enjoyable new book, Eric H. Cline has set himself an ambitious task: Not only must he educate a popular audience about the wealth and power of the eastern Mediterranean civilizations of the Bronze Age, he must then make his readers care that, some time around the year 1200 B.C., these empires, kingdoms, and cities suffered a series of cataclysms from which they never recovered.”
—Susan Kristol, Weekly Standard“Remarkably prescient. . . . [A] convincing case for the relevance of ancient history to the modern world.”– “Canadian Journal of History”
“The end of the Late Bronze Age, around the turn of the twelfth century BCE, was a civilizational collapse similar to the much better known fall of the Roman Empire seventeen centuries later. . . . The causes of this collapse have been among the enduring mysteries of ancient history and archaeology, a complicated detective story for which Eric Cline deftly serves as guide. Cline . . . presents for educated general readers a survey of the evidence and scholarship concerning the end of the Late Bronze Age. He also engagingly establishes the historical and geographical context of the collapse, complete with a motley and compelling cast of characters.”
—Matthew A. Sears, Canadian Journal of History“The memorable thing about Cline’s book is the strangely recognizable picture he paints of this very faraway time. . . . It was as globalized and cosmopolitan a time as any on record, albeit within a much smaller cosmos. The degree of interpenetration and of cultural sharing is astonishing.”
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker“The most analytically satisfying, accessible, and of course up-to-date treatment of one of the great enigmas of the ancient world.”
—Christoph Bachhuber, Historian“The 12th century BCE is one of the watershed eras of world history. Empires and kingdoms that had dominated late Bronze Age western Asia and the eastern Mediterranean collapsed.”– “Choice”
“There are few published titles which focus on the tumultuous events that took place in the Eastern Mediterranean at approximately 1200 BCE. . . . Cline’s
1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed stands out among the rest as one of the best and most thoroughly researched. . . . This book is presented as a mystery novel. . . . One thing is for certain, once started, you will not want to put it down.”– “Ancient Origins”“This collapse has been a popular subject for scholars, not least our author, for a very long time. Here he usefully assembles the evidence and deduces that it was the very complexity of powers, their interrelationships through trade or war, that brought about the collapse, and he is probably right.”
—John Boardman, Common Knowledge“Well-written, very fairly argued, and excellent value, it will set the agenda for Late Bronze Age studies for some time to come.”
—Peter Jones, Classics for All“Written in a lively, engaging style.”
—Michael McGaha, Middle East Media and Book Reviews
Client d’Amazon –
Bought as a gift, looks well written
blahh –
Very interesting discussion, I like the reminder that are we so different today? Some sections there ‘s a lot of repetition but in the soldiers a good read.
IvyFlorence –
This is a good and well researched book even if the title seems a bit “is this serious enough”? Good consideration of archaeological evidence in a way many attempts at history lack
Medea –
Makes no attempt to deliver an answer but offers a range of possibilities supported by the work of many experts in the field. Most ordinary have neither the time nor inclination to read all the peer reviewed books and papers but this gathers the salient points together in one tone and makes it all jolly interesting to boot! I feel I need to read it at least twice more and I am happy to do that. Anyone interested in modern society should read this as there are lessons to be learned.
Ernie –
Error page 64: The first letter from Dahamunzu was received during Suppiluliuma’s successful siege of Carchemish. This aligns the incident, fact or fiction, with Egypt’s loss of Ugarit, Amurru and Kadesh as chronicled in the Amarna Letters of Akhenaten. Thus, the widowed, son-less, queen can’t be Ankhesenamun, who died some 12 years after Akhenaten, she’s more likely to be Meritaten. See also Jared Miller 2007.
maureen n –
An interesting and readable book about the events of the Late Bronze Age collapse of the interconnected empires of what is now the Eastern Mediterranean and (today’s) Near East – and a theory as to ‘why’ it happenedMostly it’s well researched, with a couple of exceptions.There are several references to the ancient city of Troy, as described in Homer’s epics. However, it’s clear the author is not at all familiar with the stories, and so makes basic errors. For example, the first Epic, the Iliad, centres on the destruction of Troy by major earthquake (described in 3 out of the last 4 books/chapters of the Iliad, and linked by Homer to the death of the Trojan hero and to the now-inevitable death of the Greek hero – by extension, the ‘death’ of Troy as a significant power, and the directly-resulting ‘death’ of the Greek/ Mycenaean civilisation). The later Trojan Horse story and associated destruction of Troy by fire are mentioned only in passing in the later Odyssey – there’s not even an epic about this. So, if either destruction of Troy is part of the major events of the Late Bronze Age collapse, it’s the earlier earthquake – barely mentioned here.Another literary source quoted is the Bible, taken seemingly literally by the author. He does not draw upon any form of Biblical scholarship, again to the detriment of the points he makes about it..
Kindle Customer –
That was a fascinating round up of a lot of different bits of events, which – instead of being separate things – were interconnected, so when one thing went wrong, it could have a domino effect.A very readable look at history.
Paul Withers –
The book provides a thorough overview of the various civilizations across the Bronze Age Mediterranean and the circumstances in each leading up to the end of the Bronze Age. It’s clear our knowledge is constantly evolving, and our understanding will evolve with each new scientific discovery.
FERNANDO Z V MELLO –
muito bem referenciado
muito bem referenciado
Luciano –
A straightforward review of the literature!
An updated review about a major topic in the human history. The author clarifies the multiple factors that induced a sort of a “domino effect” and the shutdown of bronze age civilization.Well written and easily understandable even for the general reader.A source of citations of invaluable importance even for specialists.Hi Eric Cline! I look forward to reading other papers/books!