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The End Is Always Near
- Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses
- Narrated by: Dan Carlin
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Philosophy
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Publisher's Summary
The creator of the wildly popular award-winning podcast Hardcore History looks at some of the apocalyptic moments from the past as a way to frame the challenges of the future.
Do tough times create tougher people? Can humanity handle the power of its weapons without destroying itself? Will human technology or capabilities ever peak or regress? No one knows the answers to such questions, but no one asks them in a more interesting way than Dan Carlin.
In The End Is Always Near, Dan Carlin looks at questions and historical events that force us to consider what sounds like fantasy; that we might suffer the same fate that all previous eras did. Will our world ever become a ruin for future archaeologists to dig up and explore? The questions themselves are both philosophical and like something out of The Twilight Zone.
Combining his trademark mix of storytelling, history, and weirdness, Dan Carlin connects the past and future in fascinating and colorful ways. At the same time the questions he asks us to consider involve the most important issue imaginable: human survival. From the collapse of the Bronze Age to the challenges of the nuclear era the issue has hung over humanity like a persistent Sword of Damocles.
Inspired by his podcast, The End Is Always Near challenges the way we look at the past and ourselves. In this absorbing compendium, Carlin embarks on a whole new set of stories and major cliffhangers that will keep listeners enthralled. Idiosyncratic and erudite, offbeat yet profound, The End Is Always Near examines issues that are rarely presented, and makes the past immediately relevant to our very turbulent present.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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What listeners say about The End Is Always Near
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2019-12-21
almost excellent
This was a very enjoyable audiobook but as a long time listener of his podcast it was not as good as they are. It doesn't come off as an audiobook or book at all. it comes off as an extended podcast. That said Dan Carlin's podcast is worth more than a buck a show so if he decides this is the more viable financial route for his content I'll be buying his next one and one after that too!
8 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Muzik
- 2020-03-18
disappointing
i am a long term fan of the author and his many podcasts which i would highly recommend. unfortunately this books content is simply a repackaging of his earlier work and the reading of it had none of the vim and vigour i have grown to love and expect. what happened to the passion? i stopped listening halfway thru...disappointing
3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mike from Canmore
- 2019-12-03
The podcast, only different
Carlin is as good as the podcast in this book, and if you don't like waiting 6 months for the next episode of Hardcore History to be released then this book is a good substitute. Carlin returns to many of the themes that are covered in some episodes of Hardcore History (destroyer of worlds, suffer the children) and while the subject matter is similar, it does not feel as though it is just a cheap rehash of the same story (for the destroyer of worlds segment at least, I haven't listened to the other HH episodes that are covered in the book). Carlin stays pretty true to his overall theme revolving around mankind's brushes with catastrophe and when the fate of civilization was most in peril. Without drawing conclusions or making any definitive judgements, he leads us to contemplate how precarious the state of our modern civilization really is, and how easily it could be taken away.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nonda Nicholas Petropoulos
- 2020-01-19
Streamlined version of his podcast
I've been a huge fan of his podcast for years. This book was a great way to revisit some of his work, and it was much more streamlined than his podcast, and very easy to follow along going from topic to topic. I recommend this to anyone who is a "fan" of history!
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- michael
- 2020-02-20
A good summary.
I’ve been a fan of Dan for some time. As a long time listener of his other work there is some overtlap with other series’s. Logical insanity. The fall of the Roman republic come to mind. This is a good continuous journey threw them all. Very entertaining. If you have never listened to Dan before, a must!
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- steve_9364
- 2020-01-30
Dan Carlin Through and Through
A masterpiece of all that is Dan Carlin. If you like the podcasts, you'll like this audiobook. Honestly, I can't imagine Dan Carlin in text form because it wouldn't have the Dan Carlin special sauce that makes him so great.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Luke S.
- 2021-12-01
Classic Dan Carlin
A fantastic listen, classic Dan Carlin - perhaps slightly more polished. Couldn't stop listening.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- R nT C
- 2021-10-14
a good warning
helped me to appreciate life as it is, even in these times. maybe I'm getting a glimpse at what a future war looks like. now a war on humanity, is definitely different then what war looked like in the past. how interesting that this book, comes out just before a "pandemic" hits our civilization. I enjoy everything Dan Carlin has put out before, his passion for the topic really sets the tone.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kabs Rajan
- 2021-10-03
A Must listen/Read
For anyone who is a fan of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, diving into this is a given. However I feel that in this book he covers a topic that everyone in our current situation (COVID-19 Pandemic) would benefit from hearing what Carlin has to say about "The End".
As usual Carlin's delivery of his research and conclusions on this topic are executed in an exemplary manner.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-08-13
Exactly what you think
This is exactly what you think, Dan Carlin weaves together tens of thousands of years of human history to tell a compelling story of people our societies, how we build and destroy them.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Steven Glover
- 2019-10-31
Hardcore Histories Greatest Hits
If you're considering this audiobook, you fall into one of three categories. Either you've never heard his podcasts, you're a casual listener, or you've downloaded most of the archives to help get you through until the next episode drops. I am the latter.
If you've never subscribed to the shows, this is a great introduction. I started listening to his politics show, Common Sense, after hearing it on the BotL podcast. I tried the Hardcore History show despite never having much of an interest in history. His series, Death Throes of the Republic, changed that. He explains history in an interesting way, filled with back story and nuance. It is often only after hearing his take on an event that I have enough foundation to listen to the much dryer primary source material. He digs deep enough into topics make you feel immersed in the story, then pulls you onboard an alien space ship to wonder what they'd think of things.
If you're a casual listener to the shows, then this audiobook is like getting 7 blitz editions, each centered around and tied together by the theme of the sense of an impending apocalypse. It's reassuring to know we aren't the first group of people to feel an impending sense of doom. It's disconcerting how often they've been proven correct. The biggest difference I noticed was less breaking of the 4th wall to address the listener directly, and fewer reminders that "We've talked about this in a previous episode." The This is Dan kept on point, and distilled to his best. The book is about twice as long as a typical episode, but it provides as much content as 5-7, so I felt I got my money's worth.
If you're someone like me who has listened to most of the archives, then this is Hardcore Histories' greatest hits. That being said there were plenty of things I had heard for the first time. Hopefully, this is the first of many audiobooks to come.
We live in a world where everyone communicates through tweets and sound bites. This is book which satisfies someone with an addiction to context.
117 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Alex Smirnov
- 2019-11-12
It's Ok
I owe Dan a lot of money for his amazing podcasts, so I have no regret of buying this book; however, this felt like a combination of a bunch of his podcasts, and things I have heard from this before but watered down. If you haven't listened to his podcasts, this is an interesting read about everything and nothing.
34 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- reader
- 2019-11-03
Best for Dan Carlin newbies
Content consists largely of previous DC podcast subject matter wrapped around a common theme. If you are a regular listener, there is little new here. If not, you will get a hardcore look into how abruptly civilizations can wink out.
Very disappointed there wasn't more new content.
20 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2019-11-03
Depressing, but amazing all the same!
If you’re a Hardcore History fan than this format will not disappoint! It’s definitely more formal and less conversational than an HH episode, but it’s overall theme is succinct and captivating. If anything, it does a superb job of tying together the stories and themes of Dan’s previous work in an “Ah Ha!” kind of way. 5/5, who knew having an existential crisis could be so entertaining?!!
17 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Neo
- 2020-03-05
The child rape did me in.
I was enjoying the story until the turn it took with a graphic rape including a child. It made me sick and I can't listen further. I listen and read true crime so I'm not squeezy. But this was bad.
16 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shaun
- 2019-11-03
Love love love this book!
Dan has a special way to take the lessons of history and make them seem closer and dearer than I’ve ever heard or experienced.
While he is not an historian, as he is fond of telling his podcast audience, (His Hardcore History Podcast is second to none for good reasons) his exhaustive research and extensive quotes from a wide variety of sources bring history to life like no others have.
I highly recommend this book (and the long list of references he provides) to fans of history, dramatic non-fiction storytelling, and everyone from 15-115.
If any of my history classes had included this or his podcasts, even as supplementary material, I am confident that I would have gotten better grades and had a more personal understanding of history.
Five thousand stars!
11 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2019-11-03
Very good, but a little short
Very well written, and well performed. A little disappointing that it is so short. The topic would have deserved a more comprehensible book.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Joseph Manganello
- 2019-10-30
Interesting!
I'm an avid listener to Dan Carlin's podcasts and purchased this title to support him. I enjoyed his take on the multiple topics he brings up in this book however the topics don't really flow/transition well most of the time. Still an interesting read and appreciated.
13 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- David A.
- 2021-03-28
click bait title
this book overall has absolutely nothing to do with the title and description. I've never heard of this author before. so perhaps fans of this author might be the ones who have been giving it such great reviews. but the author just keeps repeating himself over and over.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2019-10-29
Best history stories you will ever hear
If you love history Dan Carlin is the master story teller... Not a historian. Just a lover of history. Check out all his work :) I have been listening for years and will buy anything he puts out. It's that good.
13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2021-01-24
an overview of the worldwide war history
following dan carlin thriugh his podcast, i couldn't resist to listen to his book and I am really happy with that. it really worth it in my view.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ludovicmorattel
- 2020-06-04
introduction to your entry in the drama
Very good introduction to the world of Dan Carlin, I really suggest to the people that weren't familiar with this to start listening the podcast after reading this book