Nature's Mutiny: How the Little Ice Age Transformed the West and Shaped the Present (Paperback)
  • Nature's Mutiny: How the Little Ice Age Transformed the West and Shaped the Present (Paperback)
zoom

Nature's Mutiny: How the Little Ice Age Transformed the West and Shaped the Present (Paperback)

(author)
1 Review Sign in to write a review
£10.99
Paperback 416 Pages
Published: 23/01/2020
  • In stock

Usually dispatched within 1-2 working days

  • This item has been added to your basket

Europe where the sun dares scarce appear
For freezing meteors and congealed cold. - Christopher Marlowe

In this innovative and compelling work of environmental history, Philipp Blom chronicles the great climate crisis of the 1600s, a crisis that would transform the entire social and political fabric of Europe.

While hints of a crisis appeared as early as the 1570s, by the end of the sixteenth century the temperature plummeted so drastically that Mediterranean harbours were covered with ice, birds literally dropped out of the sky, and `frost fairs' were erected on a frozen Thames - with kiosks, taverns, and even brothels that become a semi-permanent part of the city.

Recounting the deep legacy and sweeping consequences of this 'Little Ice Age', acclaimed historian Philipp Blom reveals how the European landscape had ineradicably changed by the mid-seventeenth century. While apocalyptic weather patterns destroyed entire harvests and incited mass migrations, Blom brilliantly shows how they also gave rise to the growth of European cities, the appearance of early capitalism, and the vigorous stirrings of the Enlightenment.

A sweeping examination of how a society responds to profound and unexpected change, Nature's Mutiny will transform the way we think about climate change in the twenty-first century and beyond.

Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781509890439
Number of pages: 416
Weight: 252 g
Dimensions: 197 x 130 x 24 mm


MEDIA REVIEWS

A book that skilfully creates a historical panorama, in such a gripping and thrillingly informative way that it’s a joy. - Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung

An exciting history book, and an educational one. - Stern

A case study that connects the birth of the modern world with the climate change of the time. A fascinating panorama of a whole era. - Freie Presse

An imposing panorama of politics, economics and intellectual history ... [Blom] has written an informative history of the early modern age, which also prompts us to think about the connections between climate and innovation. - Deutschlandfunk Andruck

“Drawing on rich sources, including diaries, letters, account ledgers, paintings, and religious sermons as well as data gleaned by climate historians and scientists, journalist and translator Blom creates a vivid picture of the European landscape during the Little Ice Age and of social, political, and cultural changes that may have been accelerated by climate change ... An absorbing and revealing portrait of profound natural disaster. - Kirkus Reviews

A sweeping story, embracing developments in economics and science, philosophy and exploration, religion and politics. Blom delivers much of his argument through compressed, beautifully clear life sketches of prominent men. […] Blom’s hypothesis is forceful, and has the potential to be both frightening and, if you hold it up to the light at just the right angle, a little optimistic. The idea can be put like this: climate change changes everything - John Lanchester, New Yorker

Lively . . . an eye-catchingly grand thesis - Sunday Times

Provocative . . . lively and intelligent - Literary Review

You may also be interested in...

A Flat Place
Added to basket
Paperback
£10.99 £9.49
By the River
Added to basket
Paperback
£9.99 £8.49
Ten Birds That Changed the World
Added to basket
The Golden Mole
Added to basket
The Lost Rainforests of Britain
Added to basket
RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds
Added to basket
The Wild Silence
Added to basket
Paperback
£10.99
The Rising Down
Added to basket
Braiding Sweetgrass
Added to basket
The Hidden Life of Trees
Added to basket
The Year of Sitting Dangerously
Added to basket
Food For Free
Added to basket
Paperback
£6.99
Bitch
Added to basket
Paperback
£10.99
The Observant Walker
Added to basket
Paperback
£12.99
The Forager's Calendar
Added to basket
Sarn Helen
Added to basket
Paperback
£10.99
George
Added to basket
Paperback
£10.99
Richard Watson

“Climate has changed before”

Certainly one of the most interesting books I have read this year.
Philipp Blom takes a Eurocentric look at the "Little Ice Age" a period from roughly 1550-1750 when winters were longer and colder, and... More

Hardback edition
5 similar books recommended
Helpful? Upvote 30

Please sign in to write a review

Your review has been submitted successfully.