Could you elaborate on the worldview you were taught?
There is nothing centered on England about (with open admiration) naming periods (from before the Angles even migrated to Brittania) of histories of other peoples in the Mediterranean region by their sequential metallurgical discoveries.
i'm flabbergasted.
1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691208015/11...
> In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the “Sea Peoples” invaded Egypt. The pharaoh’s army and navy defeated them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations.
> Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, famine, and the cutting of international trade routes
Something bad may happen without much warning. It actually does, at small scale, as of recently, and shows how poorly the western civilization is prepared.
Some of the things that blow me away is the sheer scale of the late bronze age: The massive cities, the trade fleets, leaders sending each other gifts, the exchange of skills between regions and the massive trade routes for tin, copper and bronze. It completely destroyed the anglo-centric epochism I was taught in school.
And in a short time it all collapsed. We don't see that level of trade, size of ships, cities of that size, level of diplomacy etc etc for well over 1000 years.