NUMBER: 54TITLE: The Little Ice Age: How Climate Change Made History: 1300-1850
AUTHOR: Brian Fagan
STARTED: June 23, 2006
FINISHED: July 2, 2006
PAGES: 246
GENRE: Non-Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: We are in a raft, gliding down a river, toward a waterfall.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] Only in the last decade have climatologists developed and accurate picture of yearly climate conditions in historical times. This development confirmed a long-standing suspicion: that the world endured a 500-year cold snap—The Little Ice Age—that lasted roughly from A.D. 1300 until 1850. The Little Age tells the story of the turbulent, unpredictable and often very cold years of modern European history, how climate altered historical events, and what they mean in the context of today's global warming.
With its basis in cutting-edge science, The Little Ice Age offers a new perspective on familiar events. Renowned archaeologist Brian Fagan shows how the increasing cold affected Norse exploration; how changing sea temperatures caused English and Basque fishermen to follow vast shoals of cod all the way to the New World; how a generations-long subsistence crisis in France contributed to social disintegration and ultimately revolution; and how English efforts to improve farm productivity in the face of a deteriorating climate helped pave the way for the Industrial Revolution and hence for global warming. This is a fascinating, original book for anyone interested in history, climate, or the new subject of how they interact.
REASON FOR READING: I saw it on a History Channel documentary and decided I needed to have a look.
THOUGHTS: Aside from certain mindnumbingly dull parts (usually those involving ocean currents and temperatures in degrees Celsius), this was a fascinating read. It never would have crossed my mind that a change in world temperatures could cause disease, famine, discovery, and innovation. Fagan's book, while a little repetitive, is a wonderful read. He takes science and actually applies it in such a way that rationally explains major events in world history. One would never think that a cool summer could have a hand in causing the revolutions in France or Scotland.
Mixing scientific research, with personal experience and history, Fagan's exploration of "The Little Ice Age" explains a fascinating era of history with ease and grace. By mixing science and narratives, he clearly identifies and fully explains how climate change can have a devastating impact on human life. His work, however, is not alarmist or full of doom and brimstone. Fagan balances the tone of his work by also indicating how man triumphed over climate change through innovation and discovery, i.e. in folloiwing the cod, Vikings stumbled upon Canada. Fagan's work suggests that, while global warming is most certainly a bad thing, it also gives humanity a chance to adapt again through technological advances.
Fagan structures his work in a way that is easy to follow. While not overly entertaining, the science base parts of his narrative are well explained even if one does not have a degree in climatology. The writing is straightforward and simple without being plain or juvenile. Somehow, Fagan has managed to write a highly readable book on what could be a frighteningly dull subject.
My one wish is that Fagan would have expanded on certain topics in his final chapter. It is only in his last few pages that he talks about how art reflected the weather in the middle ages. In comparison to paintings today, art during the cold snap more often portrayed clouds and gray skies. This is a fascinating part of his topic that Fagan only briefly touches upon. Then again, when your thesis is that climate change affects ever facet of life and history, one would be forced to pick and choose on what to write.
MISCELLANEOUS: Where's Jake Gyllenhaal?
KEEP/SHARE/CRINGE(?): It goes back to the library from whence it came
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
CR: Young Hornblower: Three Complete Novels by C.S. Forester
RN: A romance novel. I don't know which one, but it will be a romance novel.
Comments