
The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire
Why Our Species Is on the Edge of Extinction
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Narrated by:
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Henry Gee
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By:
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Henry Gee
About this listen
"Henry Gee presents a pithy, fascinating account of the stages of biological evolution. ... a meditative and friendly listening experience."—AudioFile on A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth
Written and read by the award-winning author of A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: a history of humanity on the brink of decline.
A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Selection
We are living through a period that is unique in human history. For the first time in more than ten thousand years, the rate of human population growth is slowing down. In the middle of this century population growth will stop, and the number of people on Earth will start to decline—fast.
In this provocative book, award-winning science writer Henry Gee offers a concise, brilliantly told history of our species—and argues that we are on a rapid one-way trip to extinction. The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire narrates the dramatic rise of humanity, how a scattered range of small groups across several continents eventually inbred, interacted, fought, established stable communities and food supplies, and began the process of dominating the planet. The human story is relatively brief—the oldest fossils of H. Sapiens date to approximately 300,000 years ago—yet the spread of our species has been unstoppable…until recently.
As Gee demonstrates, our population has peaked, and is declining; our environment is becoming inimical to human life in many locations; our core resources of water, arable land, and air are diminishing; and new diseases, simmering conflicts, and ambiguous technologies threaten our collective health. Can we still change our course? Or is our own extinction inevitable?
There could be a way out, but the launch window is narrow.
Unless Homo sapiens establishes successful colonies in space within the next two centuries, our species is likely to stay earthbound and will have vanished entirely within another ten thousand years, bringing the seven-million-year story of the human lineage to an end.
With assured narration, dramatic stories, and his signature sprightly humor, Henry Gee envisions new opportunities for the future of humanity—a future that will reward facing challenges with ingenuity, foresight, and cooperation.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.
©2025 Henry Gee (P)2025 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
‘This is a real corker of a book, beautifully crafted, superbly researched, witty, with lashes of humour, telling the gripping story of why our human species will ultimately go the way of the dinosaurs. Are we all just drug-crazed lemmings willingly racing towards the cliff of extinction? Compulsory reading for all humans, mandatory for politicians. Can we possibly survive? Please tell me, Dr Gee, and tell it to me straight, just how much time have we all got?"—John Long, Professor in Palaeontology at Flinders University and author of The Secret History of Sharks—the Rise of the Ocean’s Most Fearsome Predators
"Wide ranging...enjoyable...A serious but nonetheless entertaining look at the human race’s long-term prospects."—Kirkus Reviews
"Henry Gee wrote my favourite book of last year and has now written my favourite book of next year. How he manages to expand my mind, and my knowledge of life on earth, while making me giggle at our own forthcoming extinction, well, t’aint natural. Put this at the head of your reading lists immediately, people. Before it’s too late."—Eric Idle
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An urgent, accessible, and important history, Red Scare reveals an all-too-familiar pattern of illiberal conspiracy-mongering and political and cultural backlash that speaks directly to the antagonism and divisiveness of our contemporary moment. Drawing upon newly declassified documents, journalist Clay Risen recounts how politicians like Joseph McCarthy, with the help of an extended network of other government officials and organizations, systematically ruined thousands of lives in their deluded pursuit of alleged Communist conspiracies.
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Very disappointing narrator
- By DB on 04-19-25
By: Clay Risen
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Trespassers at the Golden Gate
- A True Account of Love, Murder, and Madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco
- By: Gary Krist
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, a woman clad in black emerged from the shadows and strode across the crowded deck. Reaching under her veil, she drew a small pistol and aimed it directly at a well-dressed man sitting quietly with his wife and children. The woman fired a single bullet into his chest. “I did it and I don’t deny it,” she said when arrested shortly thereafter. “He ruined me and my daughter.”
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Story of a City
- By Suzanna on 04-29-25
By: Gary Krist
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Mediterranean Sweep
- The USAAF in the Italian Campaign
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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With the defeat of the Germans and Italians on Sicily in mid-July 1943, the focus of the war in the air shifted toward the battle for the Italian mainland itself. This campaign took place in the context of the coming invasion of northwest Europe, with many of the best units from the North African and Sicilian campaigns withdrawn to prepare for the new front, while those units that remained had a lower priority for replacements of men and material.
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Mediterranean Sweep
- By Ross Gordon on 03-27-25
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King Dollar
- The Past and Future of the World's Dominant Currency
- By: Paul Blustein
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Prophecies that the dollar will lose its status as the world's dominant currency have echoed for decades—and are increasing in volume. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts claim that Bitcoin or other blockchain-based monetary units will replace the dollar. Foreign policy hawks warn that China's renminbi poses a lethal threat to the greenback. And sound money zealots predict that mounting US debt and inflation will surely erode the dollar's value to the point of irrelevancy.
By: Paul Blustein
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Bless Your Heart
- A Field Guide to All Things Southern
- By: Landon Bryant
- Narrated by: Landon Bryant
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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“Let’s discuss . . .” These two words began the viral sensation that is @LandonTalks led by the sharp-witted, down-home, Mississippi-born Landon Bryant. If there’s one thing Landon knows, it’s the South. His anthropological dissections of customs and traditions celebrating all things Southern are a mix of humor, history, and head nodding. In his debut book, Landon discusses everything you've ever wanted to know about the South, including why they say the things they say, why they eat the things they eat, and what it really means when someone says, "Bless your heart."
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Heartwarming and Informative
- By Sandra O on 04-28-25
By: Landon Bryant
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The English Ecstasy
- How England Rose to Greatness 1558-1649 (Includes Bonus Section on Francis Bacon)
- By: Will Durant, Richard Smoley - foreword
- Narrated by: Rob Jones, David Markus
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The British Empire is unique in world history. How did this small island come to rule a full quarter of the globe? No other nation has matched this achievement.
By: Will Durant, and others
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Rot
- An Imperial History of the Irish Famine
- By: Padraic X. Scanlan
- Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1845, European potato fields from Spain to Scandinavia were attacked by a novel pathogen. But it was only in Ireland, then part of the United Kingdom, that the blight’s devastation reached apocalyptic levels, leaving more than a million people dead and forcing millions more to emigrate. In Rot, historian Padraic X. Scanlan offers the definitive account of the Great Famine, showing how Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom and the British Empire made it uniquely vulnerable to starvation.
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Really great work of history
- By Anonymous User on 04-12-25
What listeners say about The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- neale aslett
- 04-30-25
The author’s narration
As with his other books information is delivered at an easy to digest level: technical without being dry with the right amount of wit.
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- Ava de Cenizas
- 04-10-25
Nuanced View on the Rise of Homo Sapiens
Slightly contrarian view on the rise of homo sapiens. Gee provides a nuanced look at bipedal locomotion, agriculture, and other evolutionary developments. Really enjoyed the overview of the various hominid species and the research into sapien genetic code.
It’s a bit of a downer with respect to the Gee’s prognosis on H. sapien’s continued success. Gee will sound a little political to an American audience but his opinions are all data supported.
Another review complained that Gee doesn’t acknowledge issues with over population. With respect, Gee does but also thinks that a certain population size is necessary to support our complex system.
All around, an erudite and reasonably accessible popular science book, but the reader will need to be broadly read. He riffs off Gibbons’ Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
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- Anonymous User
- 03-30-25
Too many facts..no wisdom
more unrealistic European idealism that doesn't accept population decline as a necessary correction to the excesses of free trade.
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1 person found this helpful