The Collapse of Complex Societies
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:29th Mar '90
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Dr Tainter describes nearly two dozen cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He then develops a new and far-reaching theory.
Any explanation of political collapse carries lessons not just for the study of ancient societies, but for the members of all complex societies in both the present and future. Dr Tainter describes nearly two dozen cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He then develops a new and far-reaching theory that accounts for collapse among diverse kinds of societies, evaluating his model and clarifying the processes of disintegration by detailed studies of the Roman, Mayan and Chacoan collapses.
'Tainter's model accommodates all levels of complexity and all kinds of evidence. It deserves to be widely read.' Antiquity
'Tainter's is an attractive and compelling thesis, of a genre which is nearly extinct among domestic historians.' History Today
ISBN: 9780521386739
Dimensions: 247mm x 174mm x 15mm
Weight: 536g
262 pages