Only in the last decade have climatologists developed an 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 Ice 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. Product DetailsISBN-13: 9781541618596 Media Type: Paperback(Revised ed.) Publisher: Basic Books Publication Date: 11-26-2019 Pages: 288 Product Dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)About the Author Brian Fagan is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A former Guggenheim Fellow, he has written many internationally acclaimed popular books about archaeology, including The Little Ice Age, The Great Warming, and The Long Summer. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.Table of Contents Table of Contents Preface xi Acknowledgments xix Author's Note xxi Part 1 Warmth and Its Aftermath 1 The Medieval Warm Period 3 2 The Great Famine 23 Part 2 Cooling Begins 3 The Climatic Seesaw 47 4 Storms, Cod and Doggers 61 5 A Vast Peasantry 79 Part 3 The End of the "Full World" 6 The Specter of Hunger 101 7 The War Against the Glaciers 113 8 "More Like Winter Than Summer" 129 9 Dearth and Revolution 149 10 The Year Without a Summer 167 11 An Ghorta Mór 181 Part 4 The Modern Warm Period 12 A Warmer Greenhouse 201 Afterword 219 Notes 231 Index 247