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What causes cultures to decline and fall?

What causes cultures to decline and fall?

Islam Issa, Caroline Dodds Pennock and Luke Kemp explore what causes a culture to collapse – and whether history has any lessons for us in the 21st century

Matt Elton

Published: November 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM

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The new BBC TV series Civilisations: Rise and Fall charts the decline of some of history's most famous cultures, from the Aztecs to the ancient Egyptians. Three of its experts – Islam Issa, Caroline Dodds Pennock and Luke Kemp – joined Matt Elton to explore some of the series' major themes, and why stories of a civilisation's decline might be more complicated than we first think.

Authors

Matt EltonPodcast editor

Matt Elton is the podcast editor at HistoryExtra