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 story of the Mongol Empire. Find out how this group of nomadic horse riders united the peoples of the M...

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 story of the Mongol Empire. Find out how this group of nomadic horse riders united the peoples of the M...

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 story of the Mongol Empire. Find out how this group of nomadic horse riders united the peoples of the M...

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 Egypt. I want to show how this series of related cultures grew up in the floodplains of their great rive...

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 Carthage. Find out how this city rose out of the Phoenician states of the Eastern Mediterranean, and s...

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 in the Irrawaddy river valley of central Myanmar, and built one of the most remarkable series of mon...

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 Nabataeans. Find out how these once humble traders rose to become masters of the desert sands, and to...

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 world.

Find out how this remarkable society rose up out of an age of conflict and fragmentation...

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 Assyrians built their empire out of the ashes of the Bronze Age, and built an empire of iron that las...

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 can even ask for a special dedication on the front page. If you know someone in your life who loves ...

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 empire in the Western Hemipshere, in one of the toughest terrains on earth. With Inca poetry, Quechuan ...

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 this civilization suffered the loss of its Western half, and continued the unbroken legacy of Rome ri...

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 empire's rise, its remarkable technological advances, and its first, tentative attempts to make contac...

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 a lake. Discover Aztec riddles, poetry and songs, as well as the bloody ritual of the flower wars. ...

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 largest cities that the world had ever seen. Find out about the mystery of their origins, and learn how...

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 conditions that nature can throw at us. Discover how it grew and flourished, passing through a process kn...

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 unique community grew up in complete isolation, severed from the rest of the world by a vast expanse of ...

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 civilization rose to a size and wealth virtually unprecedented in the world, how it overcame the chall...

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 among some of the harshest conditions ever faced by man. Discover how this civilization was able to ...

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 civilization grew up among environmental conditions that no other civilization has ever contended with, l...

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 become one of the enduring puzzles of history. I want to explore how so many societies could collapse all...

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 of Britannia, how it endured the test of centuries against barbarian invasions and foolish rulers, ...

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 that the video for episode 19 is now complete. I want to thank everyone for your patience in waiting...

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 University Press, 2021.

Baumer, Christoph. Traces in the Desert: Journeys of Discover...

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 event of the middle ages - the uniting of a steppe people who swept out of the Mongolian plateau in 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've been down at the printers recently signing a bunch of new books. Get them while they last!

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 followed along on this journey.

If anyone still needs a copy, you can find links here: 2024-04-25 10:51:38 +0000 UTC View Post

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 real pleasure to set to video. In this episode, I've been able to bring together premium stock footag...

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 Egyptian literature

The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw

Marc Van De Mieroo...