The Last Good Year

The Last Good Year offers a vivid, ground-level perspective of the final decade of Ugarit, an affluent Bronze Age city, reconstructed entirely from the thousands of clay tablets its inhabitants left behind. Through these authentic documents—ranging from trade records to urgent military dispatches—the book immerses readers in everyday life, emerging threats, and the complex factors leading to catastrophe. Focusing on the real events and decisions of its people, it reveals how interconnected systems can unravel in a single, devastating season, providing a detailed and compelling account of societal collapse.