2019-06-26
A somewhat frustrating read.
Cline builds up a picture of an interconnected Bronze Age world in the Mediterranean, but in the end he effectively dismisses the collapse as somewhat inevitable due to it being a “complex system”. In short, Bronze Age Mediterranean societies had reached such a complex degree of interconnectedness that it was easily undone by natural challenges.
All in all, I thought he completely dodged the bullet and effectively reframed “I don’t know” with “systems collapse, because” – which doesn’t actually explain anything.
Something I found especially frustrating is that he mentions climate change as a potential cause, especially severe drought – but then dismisses it as a smoking gun because the region has “always seen droughts”. The big question begged is how severe were these droughts by comparison?
The answer, according to his own references, is that the region experienced the worst period of drought of any period during either the Bronze Age or even Iron Age. Well, there’s a clear cause for the collapse of trade, society, along with social upheaval and migration. 🙂
On the plus side, the book is rich with references for further research.
Rating: 3/5