Abandoned civilisations : the mysteries behind more than 90 lost worlds / Kieron Connolly.

Introduction -- Africa (Timgad, Batna, Algeria ; Great Temple, Abu Simbel, Aswan Governate, Egypt ; Tazarift, Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria ; Wadi Mathendous, Fezzan, Libya ; Twyfelfontein, Kunene Region, Namibia ; Laas Geel, Hargeisa, Somalia ; Pyramid of Cheops, Giza, Egypt ; Sphinx, Giza, Egypt ; Waset, Luxor, Egypt ; Nubian Pyramids, Meroë, Sudan ; Antonine Baths, Carthage, Tunis Governate, Tunisia ; Great Citadel, Great Zimbabwe, Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe)

Asia (My Son, Quang Nam, Vietnam ; Ta Prohm Temple, Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia ; Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh, India ; Satkunda, Madhya Pradesh, India ; Mohenjo-daro, Sindh, Pakistan ; Chogha Zambil, Khuzestan Province, Iran ; Persepolis, Fars Province, Iran ; Terracotta Army, Shaanxi, China ; Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad District, Maharastra, India ; Jiaohe, Xinjian Uygur Autonomous Region, China ; Niya, Xinjian Uygur Autonomous Region, China ; Stone city, Tashkurgan County, Xinjian Uygur Autonomous Region, China ; Reclining Buddha, Mogao Caves, Gansu, China ; Naqsh-E Rajab, Fars Province, Iran ; Sigirya, Central Province, Sri Lanka ; Greater Kyz Kala, Soltangala, Merv, Turkmenistan ; Bam Citadel, Kerman Province, Iran ; Bagan, Mandalay, Myanmar ; Borobudur, Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia ; Prambanan, Central Java, Indonesia ; Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India ; Preah Vihear Temple, Preah Vihear, Cambodia ; Banteay Chhmar Temple, Banteay Meanchey, Cambodia ; Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia ; South entrance, Angkor Thom, Siem Reap, Cambodia ; Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya, Thailand ; Great Wall, Luanping County, Hebei Province, China)

Middle East (Petra, Ma'an Governate, Jordan ; Catalhoyuk, Konya Province, Turkey ; Uruk, Muthanna Governate, Iraq ; The Temple of the Obelisks, Byblos, Lebanon ; Hattusa, Çorum Province, Turkey ; Ain Dara, Afrin, Aleppo Governate, Syria ; Van Fortress, Van Province, Turkey ; Ocean Necropolis, Antalya Province, Turkey ; Masada, Judea, Israel ; Great Colonnade, Palmyra, Homs Governate, Syria ; Valley of Tombs, Palmyra, Homs Governate, Syria ; Rioman theatre, Bosra, Dara'a, Syria ; Temple complex, Heliopolis, Baalbek, Lebanon ; Archway of Ctesiphon, Baghdad Governate, Iraq ; Church of Saint Simeon Stylites, Aleppo Governmate, Syria ; Grand Mosque, Harran, Sanliurfa, Turkey ; Church ruins, Ani, Kars Province, Turkey)

Europe (Parthenon, Athens, Attica, Greece ; Lascaux, Dordogne, France ; Carnac, Brittany, France ; Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland ; Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England ; Callanish I, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland ; Avebury stone circles, Wiltshire, England ; Knossos, Crete, Greece ; Magura, Vidin, Bulgaria ; Uffington White Horse, Oxfordshire, England ; Acropolis, Athens, Attica, Greece ; Theatre, Delphi, central Greece, Greece ; Pompeii, Campania, Italy ; Roman amphitheatre, Saintes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France ; Pula Arena, Pula, Istria, Croatia ; Catacombs, Rome, Italy ; Colosseum, Rome, Italy ; Hadrian's Wall, England ; Aqueduct, Segovia, Castile and Leon, Spain ; Aqua Claudia, Lazio, Italy)

The Americas and the Pacific (Ollantaytambo, Cusco Region, Peru ; Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia ; Cave of Hands, Santa Cruz, Argentina ; Caral, Barranca, Peru ; Nazca lines, Ica, Peru ; Gate of the Sun, Lake Titicaca, La Paz, Bolivia ; Teotihuacan, State of Mexico, Mexico ; Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacan, State of Mexico, Mexico ; Yaxchilan, Chiapas, Mexico ; Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico; Tikal, El Peten, Guatemala ; Copan, Copan, Honduras ; Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico ; Chan Chan, la Libertad Region, Peru ; Ciudada Pedida, Madgalean, Colombia ; Tucume, Lambayeque, Peru ; Easter Island, Pacific Ocean, Chile ; Mesa Verde, Colorado, USA ; Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico ; Cahokia Mounds, Illinois, USA ; Choquequirao, Cusco, Peru ; Machu Picchu, Cusco Region, Peru ; Moray, Cusco, Peru)

Ruined cities overgrown by jungle. Towns buried beneath the ground. Statues lying half- hidden in the sand. Why do civilisations collapse? Why are towns abandoned? And how do once mighty cities come to be forgotten about? From the pyramids of Egypt to the ruins at Angkor in Cambodia and on to the mysteries of the Easter Island moai statues, Abandoned Civilisations is a brilliant pictorial work examining lost worlds. What emerges is a picture of how vast societies can rise, thrive and then collapse. We admire how whole cities develop, but equally fascinating is what happens when their moment has passed. From the 9th century temples at Khajuraho in India which were lost in the date palm trees until stumbled across by European engineers in the 19th century to Mayan pyramids in the Guatemalan jungle to Roman cities semi-buried - but consequently preserved - in the North African desert, the book explores why societies fall and what, once abandoned, they leave behind to history.