It may not happen often, but sometimes, entire civilizations die in a single day.

Historian Victor Davis Hanson on Uncommon Knowledge Now.

Welcome to Uncommon Knowledge.

Welcome to Uncommon Knowledge. I'm Peter Robinson. A fellow at the Hoover Institution here at

Stanford, Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and military historian.

Dr. Hansen has published more than two dozen major works of history,

including a war like no other,

his classic work on the Peloponnesian Wars.

Victor Davis Hanson's newest book,

The End of Everything,

how wars descend into annihilation.

Victor, thanks for joining you. Thank you.

First question.

The destruction of Thebes by Alexander the Great,

the obliteration of Carthage by the Romans, the defeat of

Constantinople by the Turks, and the destruction of the Aztecs by Cortez.

Those are your four case studies in this book.

All those happened a while ago.

Why write this book now?

I wanted, I was curious, I've been, most of my career I've been curious why Thebes or I can go into the details,

but why these...

We'll come to it, yes we'll come to it, why these civilizations were not just defeated but were annihilated.

...