1177 B.C.

The Year Civilization Collapsed

By: Eric H. Cline

Narrated by: Andy Caploe

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh’s army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt and cataclysmic end. Kingdoms fell like dominoes over the course of just a few decades. No more Minoans or Mycenaeans. No more Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians. The thriving economy and cultures of the late second millennium B.C., which had stretched from Greece to Egypt and Mesopotamia, suddenly ceased to exist, along with writing systems, technology, and monumental architecture. But the Sea Peoples alone could not have caused such widespread breakdown. How did it happen?

In this major new account of the causes of this "First Dark Ages", Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, and the cutting of international trade routes. Bringing to life the vibrant multicultural world of these great civilizations, he draws a sweeping panorama of the empires and globalized peoples of the Late Bronze Age and shows that it was their very interdependence that hastened their dramatic collapse and ushered in a dark age that lasted centuries.

A compelling combination of narrative and the latest scholarship, 1177 B.C. sheds new light on the complex ties that gave rise to, and ultimately destroyed, the flourishing civilizations of the Late Bronze Age - and that set the stage for the emergence of classical Greece.

©2014 Eric H. Cline. Published by Princeton University Press. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

I really don't like the narrator's inflection

I would just like to start by saying I have read this book physically and loved it. I thought it would be a good idea to listen to it so I could actually figure out how to pronounce the names. However, the narrator talks like he thought it was a boring book that he could single-handedly make more interesting. The inverse is true. I find it so irritating I can't even listen to the story because I keep focusing on how condescending he sounds. His inflection doesn't match the text and is read more like a children's story, or how you would speak to someone with a mental disability. I promise no small children are likely to pick up this book anytime soon. It's infuriating. It's worth the read and I highly recommend it but I don't know if it's worth listening to with this particular narrator.

An Informative, Educational Trip

in the USA our 'World History' class consisted of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and the French Revolution. Period. I am so glad I heard this - it's educational and tells a story: it raises the ancient civilizations on a pedestal, eliminating our ignorant notions and even questioning our own collective mortality as a civilization

More Questions Than Answers

If you are hoping for a definitive answer to the question "Who were the Sea Peoples?" you will be disappointed. But you will learn a lot of fascinating information about the civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean in the Bronze Age. The narrator does a superb job with difficult and unfamiliar names of people and places. Well worth your time if you are interested in the ancient world.

Enlighting, but a bit on the dry scholarly side.

If you're a Dam Carlin fan like me, this book is going to seem dull by comparison. But it's a much appreciated insight into a long gone age and the reasons it ended. Worth the listen for any student of history.

Narrator was fine. Got the info across without being droning or annoying.

An absolutely stellar book, undone by an unhinged reader

This book is a fantastic study of a fascinating era, and having had the honor of seeing prof. Cline speak on several occasions, I knew just how spellbinding this material can become in the hands of a masterful presenter. Such mastery is, unfathomably, utterly lacking from this rendition. The reader sounds more like he is working to render a particularly boring grocery list into something even somewhat dramatic— and failing thoroughly at that task, to boot.

Who knew??

If you could sum up 1177 B.C. in three words, what would they be?

lost civilizations spotlighted

What was one of the most memorable moments of 1177 B.C.?

They had ice in their drinks and even shipped it to foreign markets?

What does Andy Caploe bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mr Caploe does a very credible job reading this book in a way that maintained my interest.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Too much information to digest in one uninterrupted session.

Any additional comments?

I found this to be a very intersting book, especially as these Bronze Age cultures have not been focused upon in most mainstream high school or college curriculums. Thank you Mr Cline! I am pleased to have read your book and will likely listen to it again.

Well researched but feels just a bit chaotic

I really appreciate how much time and energy the author has put into researching and quoting the sources, and the narrator does a fine job. My only complaint is that the book sometimes feels like it loses focus of its point, jumping from grand sweeping theories to seemingly unimportant minor details. Overall though I found it informative and enjoyable

A bunch of stuff happened, or maybe it didn't.

I really wanted to like this and the reader made a heroic effort to make it interesting. This book covers so much ground and yet so little. There are so many factors which could have brought about a cascade failure and some are of interest to modern readers based on current challenges and threats. However, the book just comes of like a bloated term paper. I can understand not wanting to commit to a theory and get blasted by peers for being a crackpot but, to say so much and not say "here's what I think happened" is bothersome and a waste of a reader's time. If I just wanted to know about the "could have beens" of the late bonze age, I could have spent half on day on wikipedia and been just as informed. There is no firm stance taken by the author. The facts are assembled but they never march anywhere. It's also very repetitive. That begins to feel like a student trying to pad a subject to make a page count quota and, on the whole, makes this highly academic in the worst ways. I never thought I'd leave the subject thinking "Yeah, so what".

Relevant for us, a story of how climate change ended civilization

Interesting story with lots of details from the daily life of the predecessors of European civilization. The last chapter is the best.

a wonderful overview of the Bronze Age collapse

after listening to the audio version, I'll definitely be purchasing the print version as well so I can flip through and re-read several sections. if you're at all interested in the Bronze Age or biblical archaeology or just archaeology in general, I highly recommend this and other books by Eric Cline!