I have mixed feelings about this book. I expected more discussion about climate change's effect on civilization. There was some discussion, but the main focus was on the stages of collapse of a civilization. His primary examples were the Roman empire and 18th century France, but others, such as the Mayan and feudal Japan were also mentioned.

On the one hand, I was disappointed about climate change being a secondary rather than a primary discussion. However, I found the sociological perspective on various civilizations' collapses fascinating. Mr. Greer made an excellent case for his assertion that while civilizations may vary greatly culturally, how they end follow the same pattern. Thus, using the pattern set out, conclusions can be drawn how ours, overly dependent on finite resources, is likely to fall.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

A map on what the next ~500 years might look like in the land that is now the United States. I think Greer is little too pessimistic on solar PV (Tom Murphy who actually runs a home PV system seems to think that it's the best future energy source we have for electricity), but I really appreciated the perspectives he offered in this book about scientism (tying of science to social beliefs that are destructive/may not last), the role of technology in the future and the best way to prep (lowering energy requirements, cultivating useful skills).