Lizzie Wade

A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Book of May 2025 A Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated History Book of the Year A The Millions Most Anticipated Spring Book of the YearA richly imagined new view on the great human tradition of apocalypse, from the rise of Homo sapiens to the climate instability of our present, that defies conventional wisdom and long-held stories about our deep past to reveal how societal collapse and other cataclysmic events are not irrevocable endings, but transformations. Perfect for fans of Sapiens or The Dawn of Everything.A drought lasts for decades, a disease rips through a city, a civilization collapses. When we finally uncover the ruins, we ask: What happened? The good news is, weve been here before. History is long, and people have already confronted just about every apocalypse were facing today. But these days, archaeologists are getting better at seeing stories of human resilience, transformation, and even progress hidden within those histories of collapse and destruction. Perhaps, we begin to see, apocalypses do not destroy worlds, but create them anew.Apocalypse offers a new way of understanding all of human history, reframing it as a series of crises and cataclysms that we survived, moments of choice in an evolution of humanity that has never been predetermined or even linear. Here Lizzie Wade asks us to reckon with our long-held narratives of these events, from the end of Old Kingdom Egypt, the collapse of the Classic Maya, to the Black Death, and, using the latest findings from archaeology, shows us how people lived through and beyond themand even considered what a new world could look like in their wake.The more we learn about apocalypses past, the more hope we have that we will survive our own. It wont be pleasant. It wont be fair. The world will be different on the other side, and our cultures and communitiesperhaps even our specieswill be different too."Lizzie Wade is an exceptional journalist and a master storyteller. She reminds us that survival always has been, and still is, possible, and that our world always has been, and still is, a choice." Ed Yong, author of An Immense WorldThis book upended my understanding of the ancient world. Wade renders our deep past in vivid prose, showing us that times of great rupture also bring great possibilities for new ways of living, if we let them. Apocalypse is the best kind of history book: vibrant and vital. Zoe Schlanger, author of The Light EatersHow did our ancestors survive the end of their worldsand what can they teach us about surviving our own?Ancient Civilizations: From the end of Old Kingdom Egypt to the fall of the Classic Maya, see how societies didnt just disappear, but adapted and transformed in the face of crisis. Climate Instability: Witness the story of Doggerland, a lost world swallowed by the sea, to discover how ancient sea-level rise spurred astonishing human ingenuity. Human Survival: Go back to the deep past, when Homo sapiens were not the only humans, and uncover the surprising new story of Neanderthal extinctionand survivalrevealed by ancient DNA. Lessons for Today: Connect the dots from the Black Death to our own turbulent present, learning how the lessons from apo...

A groundbreaking new perspective on catastrophes throughout human history, with vital lessons for our futureThis book upended my understanding of the ancient world Zoe Schlanger, author of The Light EatersLizzie Wade is an exceptional journalist and a master storyteller Ed Yong, author of An Immense WorldThe history of humanity is one of devastating, once-in-a-thousand-year events: rising seas that make land uninhabitable, decades-long droughts, civilisational collapse, epidemics like the Black Death and the Spanish Flu that reduce a citys population by fifty percent. And yet, despite enormous destruction and very real tragedy, these catastrophes all share one common denominator: we survived.In APOCALYPSE, Lizzie Wade reframes the story of human history to show how we can learn from these apocalyptic moments, seeing them not just as violent, world-ending events but as moments of progress and transformation. We travel back in deep time to when homo sapiens replaced other human species including the Neanderthals, witness the fall of the kingdom of Old Egypt, the end of the Mayans and the Black Death, as well as lesser-known catastrophes. To weave this unique narrative, Lizzie introduces us to a new generation of archaeologists using cutting-edge technology to tell new stories about our deep past, including flying planes equipped with lasers over Mayan ruins deep in the jungle, scuba diving to the bottom of the ocean, and sequencing the DNA of ancient people to show how we are far more connected to our ancestors than we think.Written in a gripping style that reads like an Indiana Jones mystery, APOCALYPSE offers a refreshingly optimistic take on the crises our own generation and those after us will face arguing that yes, catastrophes are painful and destructive, but we can and will survive them.

El libro que nos explica porque el apocalipsis puede convertirse en el principio de todo. El libro que nos explica que el fin del mundo no es el final de la historia. El libro que nos explica que los apocalipsis reinventan el mundo. En el pasado estan todas las respuestas a nuestro futuro. El pasado es el mapa para sobrevivir al futuro. Porque entender los apocalipsis del pasado es la clave para el futuro.Una mirada audaz y reveladora sobre la gran tradicion humana del apocalipsis, desde el surgimiento del Homo sapiens hasta la crisis climatica actual. Lizzie Wade desafia las narrativas convencionales sobre nuestro pasado para mostrar que los desastres no son finales irrevocables, sino momentos de transformacion. Un libro imprescindible para los lectores de Sapiens o El amanecer de todo.

A groundbreaking new perspective on catastrophes throughout human history with vital lessons for our future

Una sequía que se prolonga durante décadas. Una enfermedad que arrasa una ciudad. Una civilización que colapsa. Cuando desenterramos las ruinas, siempre nos hacemos la misma pregunta: ¿qué ocurrió? A