The Law of Civilization and Decay: An Essay on History

by Brooks Adams

"The Law of Civilization and Decay: An Essay on History" by Brooks Adams is a work of history privately published in 1895. Adams argues that civilizations follow a predictable cycle of rise and fall, driven by economic and social forces. As societies centralize and accelerate through industrialization, imaginative energy transforms into capital accumulation, causing profound shifts in human temperament and power. Through examples spanning from Rome to modern empires, Adams traces how commercial centers migrate and civilizations decay, suggesting that humanity's fate follows iron laws as inevitable as natural selection itself.