<p>'Eminently readable... one can almost hear the spoken word as one reads. Yet Cooper has built his narrative out of close reading of the original sources... the author’s strength is his ability to evoke the physical setting of the great cities that lay at the heart of empires' <strong>David Abulafia, <em>Spectator</em></strong></p>

<p>'Cooper is a phenomenon...[and] a gifted collector of historical jigsaw pieces... [he] addresses a new public in new ways, through a mastery of anecdotage and accessible storytelling' <strong>Max Hastings, <em>Sunday Times</em></strong></p>

<p>'Paul Cooper's histories of fallen civilizations are brilliantly written: clear, compelling, and ultimately chilling as we are forced to accept the lost genius of ancient cultures and the inevitable ruination of our own. Full of fascinating detail and nuanced findings, you need to read this book'<strong> Cal Flyn, journalist and author of <em>Islands of Abandonment</em></strong></p>