Around 1177 BC, the thriving civilizations of the Mediterranean-the Egyptians, Hittites, Mycenaeans, and Babylonians-collapsed almost simultaneously. Archaeologist Marcus Drake investigates this systemic failure in "The First Apocalypse." For decades, historians blamed the mysterious "Sea Peoples" for this destruction, but Drake argues for a much more complex and frightening reality.Using the latest data from pollen cores (showing climate change) and archaeoseismology (earthquake storms), Drake reconstructs a "perfect storm." He argues that the Bronze Age world was a hyper-connected,...