Ronald Wright

What made ancient civilizations die? Rome? Mesopotamia? China? Egypt? The Maya? Even Easter Islanders? That's the central question of this book by Canadian author and thinker Ronald Wright. I understand he first introduced these themes as part of a famous Canadian lecture series.

He argues that ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Rome, China, Maya, Incas, and others destroyed themselves, in large part, by using up and not replenishing their natural resources. Eventually, there were no fertile fields to farm, and thus no food to feed their populations. China and Egypt managed to endure longer than the others because they had the natural endowment of a more fertile floodplain that replenished the soil regularly, whereas Mesopotamia (Iraq) and others did not. There is a predictable cycle for this destruction, Wright explains, hoping that we can learn lessons for our own day and age before we follow their destructive patterns to the point of no return.

I picked this book up in a used library book sale at the St. George branch of the Washington County library a week ago and found his thesis interesting. I enjoyed his cross-disciplinary expertise, his pithy style, and his ability to explain and connect the major events in these civilizations' history in a way that gave me a bigger picture view of what was happening concurrently across the earth.

Towards the end of the book, he injects his modern-day political opinions into the conversation--which I did not appreciate. I'm trying to move away from that type of discourse because it is so partisan and narrow. Overall though, Wright gives a quick but erudite take on what we can learn from the great civilizations of the past before we follow their unfortunate, but predictable path.… (mer)