The Fate of Civilizations: Natural Cataclysms that Changed the World

We rarely have to think about the influence of climate on the course of history. What led to the birth of three great ancient civilizations – the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Indus-Harappan? How did a mid-global temperature drop of just half a degree lead everyone to talk about global warming, melting glaciers, and the Great Flood? Few know that a sharp temperature drop, namely, a catastrophic cooling, was the cause of the Time of Troubles and the 'unfortunate reign' of Boris Godunov. According to contemporaries, on July 28, 1601, 'snow fell in Moscow in the midst of summer, and it was frosty; people rode in sleds.' And what to say if the temperature in the last century was much lower than now, and the characters of Dostoevsky wore coats in summer. Our entire civilization is the product of a brief period of 'thaw.' Four hundred years before Ovid, neither grapes nor olives ripened even in Rome. One of the most complex scientific tasks – tracing the impact of climate on human history – is approached by the author in an astonishingly engaging way! This investigation is filled with a wealth of facts, unconventional examples, and unexpected evidence that confirms: climate 'kitchen,' perhaps, is one of the most difficult-to-explain processes humanity faces.