# Why Empires Fall: Rome, America, and the Future of the West - Hardcover

by **Peter Heather** (Author), **John Rapley** (Author)

**A new perspective on parallels between ancient Rome and the modern world, and what comes next**

"\[A\] provocative short book . . . with a novel twist."--_The Economist_

Over the last three centuries, the West rose to dominate the planet. Then, around the start of the new millennium, history took a dramatic turn. Faced with economic stagnation and internal political division, the West has found itself in rapid decline compared to the global periphery it had previously colonized. This is not the first time we have seen such a rise and fall: the Roman Empire followed a similar arc, from dizzying power to disintegration.

Historian Peter Heather and political economist John Rapley explore the uncanny parallels, and productive differences between ancient Rome and the modern West, moving beyond the tropes of invading barbarians and civilizational decay to unearth new lessons. From 399 to 1999, they argue, through the unfolding of parallel, underlying imperial life cycles, both empires sowed the seeds of their own destruction. Has the era of Western global domination indeed reached its end? Heather and Rapley contemplate what comes next.

### Author Biography

**Peter Heather** is Chair of Medieval History at King's College, London. His books include _The Fall of the Roman Empire_, _Empires and Barbarians_, _The Restoration of Rome_, _Rome Resurgent_, and _Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300_. He lives in London, UK. **John Rapley** is a political economist at the University of Cambridge and a Senior Fellow at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study. His books include _Understanding Development_, _Globalization and Inequality_, and _Twilight of the Money Gods: Economics as a Religion and How It all Went Wrong_. He lives in London, UK, and Ottawa, Canada.

**Number of Pages:** 200

**Dimensions:** 0.9 x 8.5 x 5.7 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** September 05, 2023

## Details

- **Price:** 27.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 27.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Why Empires Fall: Rome, America, and the Future of the West - Hardcover

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