My brother is a high school history teacher. He has the great fortune of being able to design a course. He chose the topic of the decline of civilizations and empires. However, he wants to make sure that he has good works for his own reference and either a collection of readings or a book that he can assign to upper level U.S. high school students.
Suggestions?
EDIT I am appreciative of the answers thus far and would also be happy with more civilization specific works as well.
Thanks to all!
Not sure what the requirements would be for discussion on a question like this, so I'll just name some favorites.
Dirt: Erosion of Civlizations. I recommend the book because it is well-sourced and concise, with good graphics. The linked YouTube video actually goes into the subject in a more technical sense - the author designed the book for the general audience but is speaking at a college.
1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. This book is also not terribly long, and is the foremost overview of the Bronze Age collapse as far as I can tell. The reviews say as much and the book is recent. I would be happy to be corrected.
Lenin's Tomb by David Remnick is an amazing book (won a Pulitzer!) about the fall of the Soviet Union. It may be too long to be used as a full read, however there could be pieces of it that would be great to include. Especially considering how quickly and unexpected the fall of the Soviet Union was to everyone. How could an Empire so large and so vast in its depth into its citizens lives disappear so quickly would be a perfect way to highlight that Empire's can really disappear without a noticeable warning.