The Little Ice Age : how climate made history, 1300-1850 / Brian Fagan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fagan, Brian M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Climatic changes--Europe--History.

Climatic changes.

History.

Europe.

Physical Description:

xxi, 246 pages : illustrations, maps ; 20 cm

Edition:

First paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Basic Books, 2002.

Summary:

The Little Ice Age tells the story of the turbulent, unpredictable and often very cold years of modern European history, how this altered climate affected historical events, and what it means for today's global warming. Building on research that has only recently confirmed that the world endured a 500-year cold snap, 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. In viewing history through the lens of climate, The Little Ice Age brings together a huge range of sources, from the dates of long-ago wine harvests and the business records of the 14th century monasteries to the latest chemical analysis of ice cores. Fagan weaves this information into a story that will fascinate anyone interested in history, weather and how the two interact.

Contents:

Part 1 Warmth and Its Aftermath

1 The Medieval Warm Period 3

2 The Great Famine 23

Part 2 Cooling Begins

3 The Climatic Seesaw 47

4 Storms, Cod and Doggers 61

5 A Vast Peasantry 79

Part 3 The End of the "Full World"

6 The Specter of Hunger 101

7 The War Against the Glaciers 113

8 "More Like Winter Than Summer" 129

9 Dearth and Revolution 149

10 The Year Without a Summer 167

11 An Ghorta Mor 181

Part 4 The Modern Warm Period

12 A Warmer Greenhouse 201.

ISBN:

0465022723

OCLC:

49032034