In 'The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses' by Dan Carlin, the host of the Hardcore History podcast surveys the rise and fall of civilizations and cultures to put present-day concerns about the impending end of the world into perspective.
While I like the idea, and there are certain topics I appreciate Carlin bringing up, his positive references to Will Durant's epic series 'The Story of Civilization' are something of a tell. The same pitfalls from the Durant works I have read thus far are to be found here.
Neither the author nor the reader suffer a shortage of facts and anecdotes, but the understanding of how best to connect the dots to reach conclusions is in question due to the fundamental presuppositions never questioned, always assumed. And that is regrettable because there are plenty of dots needing connected, and it is sad to see them connected so often in a misunderstanding and misleading way.
