Introduction : the end -- How we misunderstood the apocalypse of human extinction -- How sea level rise spurred ingenuity -- How apocalypse brought people together -- How apocalypses turn inequality into violence -- How society collapses, but civilization survives -- How post-apocalyptic societies reinvent themselves -- How the apocalypse of colonialism has hidden in plain sight -- How slavery created the modern world -- Why we've stayed trapped in the apocalypse-and how we can find our way out -- Epilogue : the beginning

"A new view on the human tradition of apocalypse, from the rise of Homo sapiens to the climate instability of our present, and a look at how the new tools of archaeology reveal these upheavals as moments that created the world we live in, and continue to offer surprising opportunities for radical change"--