Reviews of Lessons from Fallen Civilizations

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

“In developing his unique list of immutable principles that govern the fall of great Western Civilizations, Kelley makes a compelling contribution in the effort to reverse America’s decline. His prescriptions for counter the Islamic threat generally and the the Iranian theocracy specifically are dead on. If I were President next November, I would order each of my cabinet secretaries to read Lessons From Fallen Civilizations by inauguration day.”
Jerome Corsi ~ Best selling co-author of Unfit for Command

“In Lessons From Fallen Civilizations Larry Kelley reminds us how important history is in informing and instructing the future. As the book suggests, history is written by the winners. To this point, though it has lost battles, Western Civilization has been winning the war. That may change. As Kelley documents, loss will be catastrophic.

That said, Kelley is no defeatist. The book is solidly written, rich in useful detail, and a must read for those who want to keep the writing of history in our hands.”
Jack Cashill ~ Best selling author of Deconstructing Obama

“Western CIV 101 before the imams of political correctness took over our campuses.

Larry Kelley’s Lessons from Fallen Civilizations is a sweeping tour de force that reminds us that civilization as we know it is a fragile miracle that modern day barbarians could easily sweep away with the help of a complacent polity if we fail to protect and defend it.”
Kenneth R. Timmerman ~ Best selling author of Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran

“If you want to really understand how other cultures fell, why US is at a precipice, who real threat is to our survival, and what we must do to avoid fates of Greece, Carthage and Rome, listen very closely to what he is telling you…”
Chris Field ~ Executive Editor, The Blaze Magazine

“I love Larry Kelley and have followed his writings for over 4 years now. When he tells a story you can count on it being the raw unadulterated truth, good , bad or indifferent. I count on Larry Kelley to give me the facts and tell me the history of issues and he never disappoints. This book was an amazing read and all the history was relived in the book. It really an interesting to read how much history has repeated itself with people who didn’t get the message the first time around.

We can not be slaves to our history but learn from it and move forward as a more enlightened people and this book was such a joy to read to help us understand how to do that. If you love history and you love reading about our history a people and see how it reflects on us today you will enjoy this so much. A must read for all!”
Dawn Wildman ~ Tea Party Patriots National Coordinator/State Coordinator – California

“In reading Larry Kelley’s book, I have found new hope that my country will be liberated and the Persian people freed from the foreign tyranny of Islam.”
Roya Teimouri ~ Human Rights Activist

AMAZON REVIEWS

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – Highly Recommend
By Laura McConnell on March 27, 2012
Format: Hardcover

If it weren’t for the breadth and the sweep of the accumulated history lessons here, I might have been inclined to become somewhat discouraged for America by reading Larry Kelley’s new book, Lessons from Fallen Civilizations. In point of fact, however, this is an invigorating and inspiring read, identifying and linking, as it does, those characteristics which weakened and even brought down ancient empires to the many and several comparable traits America is hesitant to combat today. Thankfully, the author departs from the many “we’re all doomed” pot-shotters who sit in the corner and feel sorry for themselves; rather, the book’s hopeful tone serves as a call to action both to those who have failed to diagnose adequately the depth of our problems and also to those who are too feckless and enervated to stand up and fight for what they know is right. Highly recommended to the current observer and also to those who, like me, needed a refresher course on the frailty of fortune and the vulnerability of those too casually regarded as giants.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – A Knock-out!
By Lawrence G. Townsend on June 30, 2012
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

You don’t want to get into a fight with Larry Kelley about what’s wrong with America. You may think your knowledge of American history, the rudiments of economic theory, and recent political events is enough for you to duck, dodge, and rope-a-dope your way to at least a decision. Wrong! The author can swat that stuff around with one hand tied behind his back. But head’s up for the roundhouse he has in store for you: crushing insights into history that reach back not hundreds, but thousands of years — dinosaur civilizations that didn’t smell the coffee, much less read the memo with the subject line: “Imminent Extinction Due To Epochal Stupidity.”

If you’re a liberal, he aims to make a bleeding liberal out of you, but not in some pleasant touch-feely kind of way. The writing is both engaging and bruising. The history lessons are sweeping, panoramic and seem at times to float like a butterfly, whereas the merciless jabs at the current administration — you guessed it — not only sting like a bee but are delivered with the hope the recipients are deathly allergic and totally reliant for their emergency room treatment on government-sponsored healthcare that, if all goes well, is nonexistent.

Down for the count!

Sure, we know politics is blood sport. In true libertarian spirit, Lessons From Fallen Civilizations is written in the mode of extreme sport — gloves off, no rules — but not for any love of anarchy. Just the opposite. The fight is for a genuine love of something noble and great — not prize money or a gleaming belt, but love of our country and, yes, our civilization as we know it, vulnerable to slipping through our fingers like the sands of time we can no longer afford to waste.

Don’t just stand there. Get in the ring! Why? Read this book!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – Should Be Required Reading
By Anne Wingate on July 21, 2012
Format: Hardcover

Lessons from Fallen Civilizations should be required reading for all candidates and all voters in the 2012 election. It was given to me by author Larry Kelley via NetGalley, a distributor of galleys to professional readers, including reviewers. I have been reading since I was four and I am almost 69, with a Ph.D. and a history of reading one to six books a day for 64years. But never before have I read such a cogent argument.

In the course of ten years of research before writing the book, Kelley identified ten immutable laws which tell when a civilization is in danger of collapse. Then he studies the history of the struggle between the East and the West from the Battle of Marathon to the present, showing how those laws apply to each civilization. Don’t worry if you don’t know ancient history; his explanations are adequate. He applies these laws to the present day and explains what can be done to back our nation out of its present predicament, to last longer than would otherwise be the case. I have his permission to quote all ten of those laws.

1. No nation has ever survived once its citizenry ceased to believe its culture worth saving.
2. In battle, free men almost always defeat slaves.
3. Appeasement of a ruthless outside power always invites aggression. Treaties made with ruthless despots are always fruitless and dangerous.
4. If a people cannot avoid continuous internal warfare, they will have a new order imposed from without.
5. When a free people, through taxation, is deprived of its ability to acquire wealth and property, collapse is presaged.
6. To hold territory, a state must be populated by those loyal to the central authority. When immigration overwhelms assimilation, the fall is predicted.
7. With the loss of fiscal solvency comes a loss of sovereignty.
8. Debasing the currency always destabilizes the governing authority.
9. When a civilization accepts the propaganda of its enemy as truth, it has reached the far side of appeasement and capitulation is nigh.
10. Declining civilizations will always face superior firepower from ascending civilizations because sovereignty is only temporarily uncontested.

These sound like broad, sweeping generalities. But Kelley provides solid evidence, thoroughly documented.

I ask the reader: How many of these laws apply to the United States today? Be honest in your assessment.

Then go and buy the book, read it, and ask everyone you know to do the same. Then the United States will survive a few more generations. Ignore this book at your peril, and at the peril of all your descendants.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – A Tour Through the Failures of Great Civilizations and A Call to Women of Islam
By Susan Southworth on April 1, 2012
Format: Hardcover

In the 1990’s Francis Fukuyama declared we had attained the end of history in a world of universal human rights and democracy while Samuel P. Huntington theorized that the clash of civilizations is the unavoidable nature of conflict in the post cold war world. While not signing on to Fukuyama’s rose-tinted worldview, Larry Kelley does not succumb to fatalism. His goal is the avoidance of a clash of civilizations and his solution is exceptional.

Kelley’s historical survey of the failures that doomed great civilizations is enlivened with excerpts from literature that paint the critical events in vivid descriptions. More than four dozen illustrations are spread throughout the text, including a Hoplite warrior, Greek trireme, Hannibal, a catapult, the elephant charge in the battle at Zama, a diagram of the fortifications of Constantinople, Polish Hussars, and the Gentile Bellini drawing of an Ottoman Janissary in traditional headdress. Kelley draws lessons from fallen civilizations, starting with the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC and bringing the survey up through the end of the first decade of the 21st century. He does not shy away from pointing out fatal misjudgments by prominent Republicans, including strategist Grover Norquist and former President George W. Bush. (He is much gentler toward former President George H. W Bush, the father.)

Today he identifies the United States as dangerously weakened by overwhelming debt, high unemployment, slow growth… and the situation of our European allies is even worse. Unable to rely on a Europe too burdened with their Euro crisis, social tensions, and resentments, the author reaches out to women whose suffering he details, suggesting all they have to gain. Insisting that Navy Seals’ raids, Predator strikes, and even military invasions will not save western civilization, he urges us to stand with the women of Islam, to whom he dedicates his book.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – Lessons from Fallen Civilizations: A Review,
By Amanda Alexander September 29, 2013

In Lessons from Fallen Civilizations, author Larry Kelley holds up a startling mirror to the face of America, showing the true and fragile state of our once great nation. Filled with rich historical fiction as well as analysis, this talk is as engaging as if the reader is witnessing events first hand. This work has opened my eyes to a very present threat to our survival as we become increasingly too weak to defend our land, our allies, and our interests. Witness the recent attacks on our embassies; Kelley makes clear that the American empire is in danger. I would make Lessons from Fallen Civilizations required reading for all college students and recommend it to anyone with an ear for history and a cautious eye on the future.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – I Wept after reading the sample!
By Dakota, September 3, 2013

I’ve only read the sample on my Kindle, but after being reminded of the men who are honored and praised as great politicians and statesmen by the socialist faction in our country, I felt very sad. Our country has been betrayed by the very men and women who took an oath to uphold the Constitution! They’ve trampled on it, and dishonored it long enough! I grew up loving America. Proudly pledging allegiance to the flag, in school! Our government has been hijacked by a few self-serving professional politicians, who care only about their careers. Is there one politician in our government willing to put his or her professional life on the line to really serve this great nation? I pray to God that there is! It’s time for another Tea Party! A revival of patriotism like we saw immediately after 9/11! I only hope there’s time enough to turn things around. But, it’s only going to happen when people read books like this, and then decide what role they’re going to play in that revival! We’ve managed to kick God, prayer, and the teaching of moral values out of our schools. Why are we then surprised that our current administration is the laughing stock of the entire world? Read this book! Then decide, what can I do as one person. And then do it! I am!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – Great book!,
By Connor c August 5, 2013

Lessons from Fallen Civilizations offers a completely original and intelligent look at the threats posed to Western Civilization, threats that many in academia and in the press seem to overlook. Not only does Kelley shine the light on Islamic extremist intent and shows how it emanates from centuries past, but he also demonstrates how those intentions are now manifest in a modern setting. He profiles the downfall of five great civilizations, Greece, Carthage, Rome, Byzantium and ending with the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. I saw a great deal of overlap in learning how each of these great civilizations made bad decisions that ultimately led to their destruction. In reading Kelley’s book, it made me want to set out to change the trends and patterns in current Western Civilization that could lead to our destruction.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – Interesting read,
By Adam July 24, 2013

The plethora of information provided by Larry Kelley both illuminates and proves his thesis–that being, great civilizations fail for specific reasons. Kelley makes his reader understand why it is that we must learn from history. And shows through the fall of five great civilizations that history does definitively repeat itself. Moreover, Kelley’s conclusions provide perfect antidotes to thwart the current atrophy of the United States of America.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – Should be Required Reading,
By Jacqueline Boone July 2, 2013

Verified Purchase
This book should be required reading for every American Citizen. It gives an excellent pictures of conflicts between Islamic and all other cultures of the world.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars – Five Star Material!,
By E. Brown (Fort Worth, TX) February 22, 2013

Verified Purchase
I caught just the tail end of Mr. Kelley’s interview on the Coast to Coast radio show, and became intrigued with the question of the Ten Immutable Laws Governing the Fall of Civilizations. Since I missed the crux of the interview, I decided to buy the book, and am extremely glad that I did. This was an awesome read!

Foremost in my opinion, it gives the best world history lesson I have ever had! Part One, titled “Ancient Threats to Western Civilization,” was a succinct, yet thorough review of the Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, etc. It discussed Hannibal, Atila, the Scipios, and the rise and fall of the Romans. I feel like I know something now! Very well written. He very lightly weaves current U.S. policies into this chapter, and leaves you going “uh-huh, uh-huh.” Part One was five-star material.

Part Two discusses the Rise of Islam, and is again five-star material. Written in the same interesting fashion as Part One, this section discusses Muhammad, the Ottoman Empire, as well as some Christian history. More than either of the other thirds of the book, this one really shines a light on the historic root of the modern-day war between Islam and the West. This is a deep history that I only now understand. (As well, the bright light that it shines on Islam creates very profound reflections on the book of Revelation, and the Biblical prophets. This was a Wow for me!)

Part Three of the book was the most disappointing. While it had a bold title: “Resurgent Militant Islam,” it drifts off into the realm of political opinion. Don’t get me wrong; I agree with most if not all of his opinions. It’s just that given the brilliance of the first two parts of the book, I wonder how he justifies: “Gone are the days when a conservative president will politely absorb endless ad hominem attacks upon his character from the Left.” [Truncated slightly] In much of this section, it appears that the author, frankly, is engaged in wishful thinking. But even this part of the book makes some good observations in continuation of the original theme. Of course, it continues to weave the Ten Immutable Laws into the text, if they are not already obvious by this point.

So this is a definite “recommend.” I now have some interest in some of the historical subjects that Mr. Kelley introduced me to.

Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read,
By Rose V LaFosse February 18, 2013

Verified Purchase
Excellent digest of earlier fallen civilizations and their parallel to our current one. An eye opener to our country’s future.