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.

Poor narration kills the experience

This didn't seem like a bad book. The subject matter is fascinating. Cline's prose wasn't particularly imaginative. He didn't seem to providing a unique or create synthesis of the available evidence - really he just reviewed a few hypotheses and used a middle-ground "they're all true" sort of construction. That's not a terrible structure for a popular audience book aimed at lay people. In fact, it may even be the ideal lay-audience structure.

The real problem with this book was the narration. Oh my god is Caploe terrible. He reads like he's performing story time to the preschool crowd at the local public library, with all sorts of over exaggerated tonal inflections. In an expository reading like this one, it's completely distracting and nearly impossible to follow the prose. I nearly gave up 10 minutes into the book. I stuck through it because the topic is really cool, but I probably absorbed less than half of the material.

I may listen to another Cline book at some point. I will never buy another book narrated by Caploe.

Good topic, lukewarm delivery

First off, this narrator should not do historical nonfiction, or he should save his wacky voices for the cartoon acting.

This book had very interesting subject matter--the seemingly simultaneous fall of many Mediterranean/Mesopotamian civilizations in the 12th century BC. However, the book is not well organized; it could probably be cut down by a third if it were. Lots of repetition.

I really like historical nonfiction that weaves a narrative into its retelling of historical facts. I think most people do outside of academia. This book doesn't do that. The author's aim isn't really to tell a story, to be fair, it's to examine and dispute current and past theories about the 12th century collapse. He jumps back in forth in time as he examines various civilizations, events, and theories, so it might be difficult to maintain a chronologically sound narrative. But still, there is a good story to be told here and a superior author might've presented his argument amidst narration of this story.

That thud is the listener...

When you listen to hours of recitation of scanty evidence and find out the answer is: "Nobody knows why Bronze age civilization collapsed" but there are lots of theories. And new evidence is being discovered, or re-discovered, or translated, or pieced together or... Basically the book is a laundry list of evidence with anecdotes about discredited or reinterpreted evidence.

The evidence is interesting but not conclusive. The question that is being addressed is whether it is all the fault of the 'sea peoples' and who were they? The answer is not here. It does posit the theory that a series of calamities caused the system to fail, where it could have survived single events. There is the hint that a combination of climate change (drought), earthquakes, and social upheaval could have destabilized the trading inter-dependencies of the bronze age kingdoms but the author doesn't think the story is complete yet.

Ultimately the listener has to be familiar with lots of place names and the names of the players to follow what is being discussed. Without an annotated map, we are literally at sea.

Oh, and do skip the first two chapters. They are marketing material not relevant to the topic. The third chapter is an introduction so the book doesn't start til the 4th chapter.

As for the reader, sorry, I'm not a fan of Andy Caploe when he reads fiction. For non-fiction he is a really bad choice. For instance, he is very snide when reading that a pharaoh was married to his sister. Since it was the common practice of the time and culture, it is Not appropriate for him to color his reading that way. Then there is the way he pronounces 'elite' with a long a, and then... Well, if your annoyance threshold is low this is a book to avoid.

Detailed Exegesis of an Ancient Global Collapse

What did you love best about 1177 B.C.?

Who at Amazon writes these questions - a trashy novel aficionado? "Love" is an inappropriate verb for an analysis of Late Bronze Age cultures, their economic interdependence upon each other, and a consideration of the possible factors leading to the collapse of these cultures and the rise of new societies.

What other book might you compare 1177 B.C. to and why?

A premise of the author is that the interdependence of the economies of Late Bronze Age kingdoms - the Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians, and Mycenaeans among others - may have contributed to their collapse in the 12thc BC. Thus, a modern treatise questioning the stability of the modern global economy, might have some comparable factors. Gibbons's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in which that author attempted to identify the historic factors leading to the end of Rome, might also be apposite.

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

Mr Caploe changed his intonation when reading letters written by one ancient ruler to another, so one could hear the threats, importunings, and fulsome praises the letters might have contained.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

From the fringes of the Late Bronze Age world they came, they saw, and they destroyed - or did they? And who were they, anyway?

Any additional comments?

This is not a book that can be digested in one audible "sitting". The author provides historic background of the many societies and kingdoms of the Late Bronze Age. Many rulers have similar names. Many place names no longer exist. Listeners might find it handy to have a map of the ancient Middle East (many Bibles contain such). Mr Cline's last chapters provide a summary which may allay confusion in a listener's mind and help the listener piece together a partial, at least, understanding of the many ancient societies which were swept away by a likely combination of events- a "perfect storm" - to use an overused metaphor.

Any listener not familiar with the British elections leading to the Brexit decision, and the repercussions in the European Union and Wall Street, should take an hour to read about these recent events - then listen again to the last chapter, and read Shelley's Ozymandias.

Presents many current theories of ancient history

Unless you are a student or scholar of ancient history much of what of what you hear in this narrative will be be new to you. Evidently extremely well researched and bringing together the work of archeologists, linguists, forensic sociologists and even climatologists, this work shows the daunting tasks faced by those attempting to understand the collapse of civilizations (in this case in the Mediterranean area at the end of the Bronze Age) and its loss of great knowledge. Was the destruction of a great areas of human inhabitation natural or of human origin? Or a combination thereof? The author guides you through the evidence and conflicting theories. If you have great interest in history, or like me, you just have a great curiosity about everything you will appreciate this book. Note: had I known more about the subject, I might have rated it higher, so the rating is more of a reflection of me than the merits of the book. - Don of Queen Creek, AZ

Great Book; Irritating Narration

Great book on the subject (at least for a layman enthusiast like myself); my review is focused on the narrator and Audible.

The narrator is irritating. He reads the story almost like a parent reading a bedtime story and reading quotes in dumb voices which detracts from them considerably (and sometimes he gives them an accent that feels unintentionally offensive).

Also -- and this is an issue with every Audible book I've gotten -- was this recorded from a speakerphone with an old Talkboy? The sound quality on these books is consistently terrible, and significantly diminishes my enjoyment of the material. You're a subsidiary of a massive transnational corporation, Audible. At least strive for better audio quality than your average hobbyist podcaster has.

Read the book if possible

The narration really hurts a very good book. It's still worth listening, but if you can read it instead, do.

Biased

The author's conclusions about the evidence presented were biased rather than objective in nature. That being said, with the circumstantial and incomplete nature of the evidence at hand for the calamities of the late bronze age, it is easy to suit evidence to a myriad of explanations. For this subject, I would rather see the facts presented and then an exploration of the different scholarly narratives out there that explain their merits and problems rather than a single narrative being championed.

Interesting subject somewhat dull read

Dull read but fascinating subject. Definitely a recommend for any history buff or antiquity interest.

Weird narration

For a non-fiction text, the narration is weirdly melodramatic and doesn’t contribute much in my opinion.