YEAR WITHOUT SUMMER: A HISTORY from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History


Published in July of 2024 by Hourly History.

In April of 1815, a volcano called Mount Tambora on an island in Indonesia erupted in a massive explosion. It was one of the largest explosions in human history. It obliterated most of the volcano, buried nearby villages and causes tsunamis. There were more eruptions that followed. It was a massive local problem, but the rest of the world had no idea it had even happened.

But, the rest of the world soon was affected by these explosions. Debris from the explosion got into the stratosphere and spread all around the world. There was so much ash in the upper atmosphere that 1816 became known as "The Year Without a Summer." 

This short e-book details some of the results, including snowfalls well into what are popularly regarded as summer months in regions of North America that rarely see snowfall after March. There were crop failures across North America, Europe, and Asia and political instability soon followed, especially in the Old World with its larger, more densely crowded populations. 

The cold conditions were less strong in North America the further one got from the Atlantic Ocean. It served as an inducement to to increase the population shifts towards the Western frontier (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.)

I enjoyed this short history, even if I think it overplayed the long-term consequences, projecting them out decades afterwards in Europe. 

I rate this e-book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Year Without Summer: A History from Beginning to End by Hourly History.

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