{"product_id":"9780907845607","title":"Holding Up a Mirror: How Civilizations Decline","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe good news is: that faith in material goods really does bring prosperity to society. The bad news is: that self-same commitment to material things leads inexorably to the destruction of the civilizations it builds. Using theatre as a measure society's health, this book shows that Ancient Greece and Rome, Mediaeval Christendom and our own contemporary society all follow the same pattern: prosperity thrives on the conviction that the material world alone constitutes true 'reality’; but that very conviction leads to a rejection of the supernatural, undermines absolute moral standards, and leads to cultural and social disintegration.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Imprint Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47013057429744,"sku":"9780907845607","price":29.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780907845607_p0.jpg?v=1763865539","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780907845607","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}