What is the exact title of the book about the "late, great, America"?
Asked by
2davidc8 (
10189
)
December 15th, 2011
A few years ago, I was in a bookstore to buy something else, but happened to glance at the “current titles” table and noticed a book with a title that referred to something like the “late, great America”. I think it was about what the world would be like when America is gone. I think the idea is that all civilizations, dynasties, empires, etc., rise, flourish, reach their peak, then decline, fall and disappear. The question is, is America already in the “decline” part of this cycle and we don’t know it? And what would it be like when America is gone?
I was in a hurry that day and did not stop to write down the exact title of the book or its author. I went back to the bookstore a few months later and could not find the book. A search of Amazon did not turn up anything quite like it, either. So, jellies, do you know the name of the book? Better yet, if you’ve read it, what do you think of it?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
4 Answers
Response moderated (Spam)
This one does not fit the title, but it does fit the theme.
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared M. Diamond.
“This book employs the comparative method to understand societal collapses to which environmental problems contribute. My previous book (Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies), had applied the comparative method to the opposite problem: the differing rates of buildup of human societies on different continents over the last 13,000 years. In the present book focusing on collapses rather than buildups, I compare many past and present societies that differed with respect to environmental fragility, relations with neighbors, political institutions, and other “input” variables postulated to influence a society’s stability. The “output” variables that I examine are collapse or survival, and form of the collapse if collapse does occur. By relating output variables to input variables, I aim to tease out the influence of possible input variables on collapses.”
Neither one. The book you suggest, @Aethelflaed, seems to have the correct first part of the title, but as I recall, the one I’m looking for did not specifically deal with any merger with Mexico and Canada. It was more like, what would the rest of the world be like, with America absent.
@jaytkay The book you suggest seems to be an interesting read in its own right. I’ll look into it. Thanks.
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
