“Amongst the Ruins” explores the collapse of civilisations
The causes, says John Darlington, include natural disasters, wars and economic reversals
“THIS, I MUST confess, seems owing to nothing but to the Fate of Things,” Daniel Defoe wrote glumly in 1724 of the decline of Dunwich. The town in Suffolk had once been the largest port on the East Anglian coast; in the 11th century its estimated population of 3,000 put it in the top fifth of recorded English settlements. A natural harbour at the mouth of the River Dunwich allowed trade with Europe. Wine came from Gascony, stone from Caen.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Things fall apart”
Culture June 10th 2023
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