despite its boring cover, HOW ROME FELL is a very tightly-written, evocative account of the fall of the first 'superpower' as Goldworthy subtitles his work. starting with Marcus Aurelius giving way to his disappointing and gladiatorial-games obsessed son, Commodus, a subject matter the topic of the famous Russell Crowe movie GLADIATOR, we plunge straight into the crisis of the Third Century, where the Praetorian Guard auctioned the throne and at times three or more emperors vied for legitimacy. then fourth century begins a period of some renewed stability... and more I won't write for hesitancy over the spoiler.
Goldsworthy's prose is lucid, gripping, tight, and professional. in comparison to some non-fiction writers who enjoy dramatizing (I'll be reviewing a strong example of this shortly), it's clear the good doctor knows his stuff and his talent at writing is only matched by the clear research that went into his work.
topping a number of Goodreads lists in terms of number of ratings, this is a lucid and recommended work. I feel far more educated about the topic and I look forward to reading other Goldsworthy works.
Now since the question has been asked, "is the united states going to fall?", the answer of course is yes. But it's not going to collapse for
at least thirty years. You see, nuclear weapons exist now, so no matter what happens, the physical territory of the US will be free from enemy armies for some time. What we will see is the widespread use of Ritalin to control people, (possibly mandatory), surveillance drones over the cities as policing steps up, possibly some cutbacks to aircraft carriers (11 is a lot), and definitely more invasive control before the collapse. As these things haven't been proposed yet, we're still good for twenty years.
The collapse of the American system will see:
1- possibly a security forces attempt to establish a dictatorship (probably not)
2 - more and more agitation in people, more crack, more methamphetamine
3 - probably a nuke or two goes off somewhere (not the us) as us dominance recedes
However the sun is still shining! Girls are still smiling! Life goes on!