Try free for 30 days

  • The End is Always Near

  • Apocalyptic Moments from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses
  • By: Dan Carlin
  • Narrated by: Dan Carlin
  • Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (888 ratings)

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
The End is Always Near cover art

The End is Always Near

By: Dan Carlin
Narrated by: Dan Carlin
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $24.31

Buy Now for $24.31

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

The New York Times best seller.  

Do tough times create tougher people? Can humanity handle the power of its weapons without destroying itself? Will human technology ever peak or regress? And why, since the dawn of time, has it always seemed as though death and destruction are waiting just around the corner? 

Combining his trademark thrilling, expansive storytelling with rigorous history and thought experiment, Dan Carlin connects past with future to explore the tipping points of collapsing civilisations – from the plague to nuclear war. Looking across every brush with apocalypse, crisis and collapse, this book also weighs, knowing all we do about human patterns, whether our world is likely to become a ruin for future archaeologists to dig up and explore.  

From the creator of the award-winning, 100-plus-million-download podcast Hardcore History.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Dan Carlin (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic Reviews

"Carlin puts the 'hardcore' in Hardcore History by focusing his narratives on the most violent and dramatic moments in human history, filling his show with colorful anecdotes that were most likely left out of your high school history class." (Time

What listeners say about The End is Always Near

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    710
  • 4 Stars
    140
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    675
  • 4 Stars
    68
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    584
  • 4 Stars
    127
  • 3 Stars
    35
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Timely and scary

I’ve become a fan of Dan Carlin and his hard-core history podcasts. This book does not disappoint. It’s extremely timely to think about all the times in history that civilisations have been wiped out and ours is perched on the precipice. We have the threat of nuclear war and climate change involving resisting sea levels. New epidermic’s of infections are also possible. We have lived through 70 years of peace but history shows that all good things must come to an end. Dan Carlin make the Clarion call to wake up and behave more clearly than our predecessors.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Any fan of Dan Carlin will absolutely love this!

Can't get enough of Dan's passionate and engaging method of delivering sometimes extremely complex and detailed information. As a huge fan of his podcasts the Audiobook version of this book was a must , however I'm sure I would have read it in his style either way. People who aren't familiar with him should definitely give this a read/listen , he's one of the all time historical and political greats ! Definitely will be reading this more than a few times ...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Listen and learn

The master of the Hard core history podcasts delivers a great walk through time, detailing humanities resilience and recovery from extinction events, classifying the threats and comparing the changing times by creating viewpoint from the moments in history and modern hindsight. A excellent audiobook.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Tremendous and thought provoking!

This audiobook of The End Is Always Near, read and written by Dan Carlin, is worth the time of anyone who contemplates the outcomes of past historical cataclysms, as well as the implications for future ones.

Any existing fan of Dan Carlin won't need to be recommended this - as they will already know this is a must have and should be listened to as soon as possible.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dan Carlin is always informative and confronting.

A great compliment to his podcast works. Im a huge fan of the old times and Dan's voice is the best at story telling as it is. Awesome book start to finish

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Food for thought

I've been a big Hardcore History fan for many years now. I love Dan Carlin's perspective on history and, of course, his sensible, gravely delivery imbued with genuine passion is utterly infectious.
This book feels less like a book and more like a collection of thoughts, which he admits to himself at the start. If you've been listening to Hardcore History then you'll probably recognise the content as stuff he's stockpiled in the course of his research.
Be that as it may, this is still well worth the listen. I listened to this over a year ago and I still think about some of the things he said quite regularly. Dan Carlin has such a remarkable gift for delivering information AND insight. Think about how rare that really is.
If you've never heard of Dan Carlin but have an interest in history and the insights that studying the past can give us on our current selves, then get this book and get everything he has ever released and you can thank me later.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hardcore history fan.

Dan Carlin lays awake at night unable to sleep and you are invited to listen to his thoughts on world destruction :D.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but a bit light on

Not as hardcore as Hardcore history podcast. I prefer Dan impromptu delivery than this boo which seems a bit rehearsed. This book jumped pretty quick from Bronza age to time to WW2 and only really offered a quick look at each era.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

this man and his works are an invaluable source of knowledge, thanks Dan and team.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must have for all you HH fans

Dan Carlin is at his Hardcore History best in this. A must listen for all you HH fans!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.