The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History 1300-1850 - Softcover

Fagan, Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0465022723 ISBN 13: 9780465022724

Publisher: Basic Books, 2001

Synopsis

From renowned archeologist Brian Fagan, the classic history of how climate change transformed Europe and the world
The Little Ice Age tells the story of the turbulent, unpredictable, and often very cold years of modern European history, revealing how the 500-year cold snap that began in the fourteenth century affected historical events and what it means for today's global warming. Renowned archaeologist Brian Fagan shows how the increasing cold influenced familiar events, from Norse exploration to the settlement of North America to the Industrial Revolution. This is a fascinating book for anyone interested in history, climate, and how they interact.

About this title

Review:

"Climate change is the ignored player on the historical stage," writes archeologist Brian Fagan. But it shouldn't be, not if we know what's good for us. We can't judge what future climate change will mean unless we know something about its effects in the past: "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." And Fagan's story of the last thousand years, centered on the "Little Ice Age," reminds us of what we could end up repeating: flood, fire, and famine--acts of God exacerbated by acts of man.

For all that he takes a broad--a very broad--view of European history, Fagan's writing is laced with human faces, fascinating anecdotes, and a gift for the telling detail that makes history live, very much in the style of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror. When Fagan talks about the voyages of Basque fishermen to American shores (probably landing before Columbus sailed), he puts in the taste of dried cod and the terrifying suddenness of fogs on the Grand Banks. The Great Fire of London, what it was like when the Dutch dikes broke, the Irish Potato Famine, the year without a summer, ice fairs on the Thames, and volcanoes in the South Pacific--Fagan makes history a ripping yarn in which we are all actors, on a stage that has always been changing. --Mary Ellen Curtin

About the Author:

Brian Fagan is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A former Guggenheim Fellow, he has written many internationally acclaimed popular books about archaeology, including The Little Ice Age, The Great Warming, and The Long Summer. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0465022723
• ISBN 13: 9780465022724
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272