# Goliath's Curse by Luke Kemp

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Goliath's Curse by Luke Kemp and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Readers praise it as a fresh look at human history and collapse, and recommend it strongly. Critics say its evidence is most convincing when it covers the paleolithic.

## Why people recommend it

- Good take on collapse and history (2 comments): "It's also refreshing to see human history being examined through that lens, like in Luke Kemp's "Goliath's Curse"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48167086)) "I am hopeful for this one, most generalizations about collapse are not very good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45862354))
- Strong recommendation, covers topic well (2 comments): "I can strongly recommend the book Goliath's Curse by Luke Kemp" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47585744)) "covers it pretty well I think" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47141251))

## What people warn about

- Evidence weaker outside the paleolithic (1 comments): "His evidence is most convincing when it's looking at the paleolithic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47726577))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0241741246?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780241741245) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Goliath's Curse by Luke Kemp", https://hackerapproved.com/p/goliath-s-curse/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).