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

Imagine a history of Europe, from the Middle Ages through the Industrial Age, that makes little or no mention of Martin Luther, or Newton, or Queen Elizabeth, or Columbus. Instead, the main figures in Fagan's index include volcanic explosions, glacial expansion and retreat, and an atmospheric phenomenon known as the North Atlantic Oscillation. Writing twenty years ago, Fagan was one of the first to popularly synthesize the relatively new science of climate history, and with convincing detail (but in little more than 200 pages) he shows the decisive and often devastating impact that long-term climate shifts, as well as the abrupt year-by-year swings they spur, have on societies, especially those at the edge of subsistence. As he notes, it's