Global Crisis
War, Climate Change, & Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The acclaimed historian demonstrates a link between climate change and social unrest across the globe during the mid-17th century.
Revolutions, droughts, famines, invasions, wars, regicides, government collapses—the calamities of the mid-seventeenth century were unprecedented in both frequency and severity. The effects of what historians call the "General Crisis" extended from England to Japan and from the Russian Empire to sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.
In this meticulously researched volume, historian Geoffrey Parker presents the firsthand testimony of men and women who experienced the many political, economic, and social crises that occurred between 1618 to the late 1680s. He also incorporates the scientific evidence of climate change during this period into the narrative, offering a strikingly new understanding of the General Crisis.
Changes in weather patterns, especially longer winters and cooler and wetter summers, disrupted growing seasons and destroyed harvests. This in turn brought hunger, malnutrition, and disease; and as material conditions worsened, wars, rebellions, and revolutions rocked the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian and professor Parker (The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare) presents a history of the 17th century that, given its bulk, must surely be the last word on the subject. Focusing on climate-driven unrest around the world, Parker illustrates how events such as drought can drive disease, war, and social change. He cites hundreds of sources dating from that period to the present, including letters, journals, petitions, and published books and articles, though he provides little insight into the accuracy of various sources on specifics like weather data from the 1600s. With a mere 2-degree Celsius change causing significant changes in rice harvests, it is easy to see how the lessons of the past may be relevant today, though Parker reserves commentary on the modern climate for the epilogue. He traces connections between climate and population and war, factors further influencing attitudes toward education and consumption. Few stones are left unturned, from how successful years created agricultural specialists in Germany; to how weather events impacted the Ottoman tragedy; to the roles women played during times of unrest in Europe, India, and China. Parker provides a perceptive but overwhelmingly thorough review of this historical period.
