DWD's Reviews

Brian Fagan's The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 is, by definition, an introduction to the climate phenomenon of the same name. Actually, it is quite similar to a History Channel documentary of the same name. On page xix Fagan notes that historians are either "parachutists" (big picture) or "truffle hunters" (love all of the details of one particular era or topic). Fagan warns that this is a parachutist book - an overview. So, what of this overview? Fagan starts with the Vikings and covers an area that is better covered by Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed . However, his stories of how the fishing industry was affected by the shift to a colder climate was surprisingly interesting. A lengthy discussion of how the colder climate change brought more disease, famine and general mayhem is punctuated by the single best one page description of the changes in farming methods that came about in t...

Disappointing. I really enjoyed The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 (I gave it 4 stars) . I was not thrilled with The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations (I gave it 2 stars) and I have to say that I do not care much for The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization either. In fact, to be short and sweet let me suffice it to say that if you follow this link: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/great-warming-climate-change-and-rise.html and see my review about The Great Warming  and add in an extended discussion about mankind in the Ice Age you will pretty much have the substance of The Long Summer . The two books could have easily have been made into one slightly larger book. I rate this book 2 stars out of 5. This book can be found on Amazon.com here:  Reviewed on December 18, 2010. Also mentioned in this review:

Disappointed Published in 2008 by Bloomsbury Press. My mother in law bought me three Brian Fagan books for Christmas last year because they were on my Amazon Wish List. I read the first one T he Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 right away and enjoyed it. I gave it four stars. . I was saving this one, hoping to enjoy it just as much. Now, I am worried that I'll never muster enough interest to read the third one. The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations seems rushed - a poorly edited and a poor man's version of Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed with some global warming hype thrown in for good measure. Many of the cultures covered by Fagan were actually covered in Diamond's more detailed book. Fagan looks at the time of the Medieval Warming Period, approximately from 800 AD to 1300 AD, and the effects of this slightly warmer time on numerous societies, including Western Europe, the ...