Apocalypse
- Author Lizzie Wade
- Narrator Christina Delaine
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date 6 May 2025
- Run Time 10 hours and 10 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Archaeology, General and world history, History: plagues, diseases etc, Social impact of disasters.
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What to expect
A groundbreaking new perspective on catastrophes throughout human history, with vital lessons for our future
'This book upended my understanding of the ancient world' Zoë Schlanger, author of The Light Eaters
'Lizzie Wade is an exceptional journalist and a master storyteller' Ed Yong, author of An Immense World
The 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 city’s 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.
Critics Review
'Lizzie Wade is an exceptional journalist and a master storyteller. In Apocalypse, she peels back the many myths of the present to reveal the true stories of past apocalypses and, perhaps more important, what happened afterward. She reminds us that survival always has been, and still is, possible.'
Ed Yong, author of An Immense World
u2018A timely examination of catastrophes that humanity has faced through history. There are lessons, warnings and solace to be drawn from this deep time perspective on the existential challenges facing us today.u2019
Alice Roberts, author of Ancestors: The Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials
'This 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.'
Zou00eb Schlanger, author of The Light Eaters
u2018A fascinating dive into the tragedies u2014 and comebacks u2014 of those that came before us. Lizzie Wade combines detailed research with clear writing to bring these historical events to life u2014 theyu2019re stories that will stick with me for a long time.'
Hannah Ritchie, author of Not the End of the World
u2018Lizzie Wadeu2019s vivid descriptions bring the latest archaeological research to life in this fascinating and timely book. Despite its sobering subject matter, Apocalypse is ultimately an inspiring read, revealing how lessons from past crises can help us survive the looming apocalypse, which is likely to be the greatest challenge our species has ever encountered.u2019
Jonathan Kennedy, author of Pathogenesis
u2018This book tells the grim story of how our species has bounced from one apocalypse to the next catastrophe. The good news is that, through human ingenuity, we survived u2013 and there is much we can learn from how our ancestors managed these natural catastrophes.u2019
Robin Dunbar, Professor of Evolutionary Psychology, University of Oxford
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