{"product_id":"the-choking-city-matt-nichols-9798233876172","title":"The Choking City: How Broken Infrastructure Destroyed Empires","description":"\u003cp\u003eEmpires rarely collapse the way we imagine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHistory books remember the invasions, the battles, and the fallen kings. But long before the final catastrophe, something quieter usually fails first.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe sewers clog.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe grain stops arriving.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe supply lines break.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn The Choking City, Matthew Nichols uncovers the hidden infrastructure disasters that helped bring down some of the most powerful civilizations in history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTravel through the forgotten logistical crises that shaped the world: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- The sanitation nightmare beneath ancient Rome\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- The rotting supply barrels that weakened the Spanish Armada\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- The foul river that nearly paralyzed Victorian London\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- The starving logistics that doomed Napoleon's army in Russia\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- The poisoned reservoirs that may have helped collapse the Maya city of Tikal\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- The mosquito-infested jungles that ruined the French Panama Canal\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- The fragile global trade routes that vanished during the Bronze Age collapse\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- The airlift that saved Berlin from starvation during the Cold War\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese are the strange, true stories of how civilizations depend on systems most people never see - water, transport, sanitation, and supply chains.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd what happens when those systems fail.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause history is not shaped only by kings and armies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes it is shaped by sewage, supply routes, and the quiet machinery that keeps a civilization alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Matt Nichols\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798233876172\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Matt Nichols\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/13\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 108\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.26d","brand":"Matt Nichols","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50665422487807,"sku":"9798233876172","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-choking-city-matt-nichols-9798233876172","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}