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Title: The Little Ice Age : How Climate Made History 1300-1850
ISBN: 0465022715
Author:
Brian Fagan
Publicate Date: 2000-12
Publish: 2000-12
List Price: $26.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $25.00
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $21.05
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| Customer Review: |
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1: A Challenging Thesis
This book is both a very good history regarding the most recent climatic cold period, 1300-1850, and a statement of the author's view on the very emotionally charged issue of global warming. There is no doubt that climate change impacts man and thus civilization's history. And we know that for the most part it was materially colder in the 17th and 18th centuries than it is today. We also know there were periods when the earth's climate was significantly warmer.
The problem is, and I am certainly no expert, that climatic changes evolve slowly, over hundreds, possibly thousands of years, and that while the 750 billion year old earth certainly has seen substantive hotter and colder periods, man's recorded history, let alone man's recorded climatic history, is horrifically brief given the amazing length of time the earth has been here. In short, the difference between theory and practice is huge.
But do not let that bother you. This is a very thought provoking, challenging book, quite topical given the current pathos surrounding the politicization surrounding global warming. Brian Fagan does a remarkable job of humanizing this issue as it has unfolded over the past 150 years. Why the Midwest is more prone to beer and whisky, as opposed to the East and West coast's preference for wine, is quite amusing and probably true. However, his contention that changing weather patterns, as opposed to a freak storm, caused the French Revolution might reach too far, but no matter. Fagan takes information from ships logs, ice cores, long ago wine harvests and business records from monasteries and weaves this information into a story about history, the weather and how the two interact. It is very interesting.
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2: Ice, Ice, Baby
Brian Fagan is a renowned archaeologist with an engaging writing style. He looks at a 500 year period, now known as the Little Ice Age, and its affect on historical events. Fagan utilizes a variety of very interesting sources, like contemporary medieval journals, winery records and the business records of 14th century monastaries, to fill in his intriguing mosaic. This book isn't strictly about weather but about the interplay of global climate changes and civilization's struggle to survive. While Fagan doesn't disagree that man's use of fossil fuels may be adversely affecting our current global climate, one realizes by the end of the book that man has very little to do with how this planet moves, groans and changes. Ocean, wind, freezing, thawing, flooding, drought - we endure these things but we don't cause them and we cannot significantly alter them. The Earth moves at its own pace.
What I found most interesting about the book is the volume and wide variety of historical events that Fagan references, effectively lost to modern memory, but resurrected here for the curious.
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3: Vividly Written and Extremely Valuable History
The author of this book is not an environmental determinist, but he makes a plea for us to observe weather as best we can, not only in our time, but in history, and study its interplay with human social, political, artistic, and military activity. He speaks of ice cores, tree rings, contemporary chronicles, and even paintings as ways to recover information about the weather of the past, and his focus is of course the cold years in Europe between 1300 and 1850. The book is filled with vital details; it is filled with precisely stated and very readable observations about what weather has meant to people, what it might mean to us, and it urges us to be more conscious of what is happening with weather today. I found it extremely inviting and thought provoking, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in European history and art. There is tremendous scope here. Anyone interested in Global Warming ought certainly to read the book, too. Quite a pleasure. Quite a terrific book.
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4: Eye opening
Superbly done. The book really hammers out the crucial points of how dramatic historical events were somehow related to violent climate shifts that lasted over 500 years.
The book examines origins of these violent climate shifts, discusses life during the middle ages and talks about intriguing topics of world events shaped by global climate. Such famous events are the French Revolution, Bubonic Plague of the 1300's, Potato Irish Famine, JamesTown to name just a few.
The Arthur is very to the point and uses excellent statistics and data to back things up.
Truly an epic book that will completely change your outlook on history forever.
Its only 200 pages and can be finished in a weekend. Get it and enjoy.
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5: The Little Ice Age
The book was in better condition than expected and arrived sooner than expected, Thank you.
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