Global Crisis: War, Climate Change, & Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century

This is a huge and fascinating book about the great crisis of the 17th century. The author is perhaps the greatest living historian of 16th-17th century Iberia, and here he expands his scope to the entire world. He draws connections to the disruptive climate (weather) of the time, one of the temperature troughs in the multi-century Little Ice Age, which is valid, and he avoids overstating his case as most climate warriors seem to do. There are plenty of lessons for today, both climate-related and otherwise (like, tax revolts in France, very current as I write in January 2019). I note that as for climate, all the historical analyses I have seen, including this one, emphasize the bad effects of COOLING, not WARMING. To the extent we expect climate to change (and it is always doing something), we should expect there to be disruptions in human activity, pluses and minuses.

After a couple of scattershot chapters it gets into a country by country history and does a major service to the historical discourse by adding in the food production and taxation effects as the events unfolded. It was also fascinating to look across cultures at the same time: the Chinese, Russian, Ottoman, and European, amongst others, to see that all faced severe weather related problems, but often reacted differently. Recommended for those who are interested in how human society survived and progressed in a particularly trying century.

This great book by Geoffrey Parker was for me, as a Dutchman, a real eye opener. We were always taught at school that the 17th century was called Holland’s Golden Century (Gouden Eeuw). But halfway through this century the Dutch Provinces lost their global influence in trade and their society slit into relative poverty. All this happened rather quickly and has been incomprehensible for many. Parker, in a very captivating way, put this global era in a completely new perspective. He not only describes the effects sudden climate change had on society. Like failing crops, there for no food for the population, with the result that 30% of society just starved. The bottom third of the global population was pushed over the cliff. But also describes, in a very fascinating way, how governments and policy makers muddled through this period. Because of their total lack: of understanding, information and communication. Today we know more and understand more and we have constant actual information we can communicate instantly. I sincerely hope that today’s governments and policy-makers read this book, so we will do better with the eminent climate change we have on our doorstep today.

This is a great work; it will stand as a major history of human beings dealing with multiple crises. I have to disagree with those who say it's "not for the beach" just because it's long. It is so well and compellingly written that it served me well on a long vacation. Infinitely better than those horrible long novels people take with them. My one problem is that Dr. Parker does not really prove a case that climate caused the revolutions and wars. He stops a bit short of saying it did. He correlates wars and rebellions with the horrible climate events of the Little Ice Age, but--in a particularly good section of the book--notes that the awful climate events continued well into the 18th century, but the wars didn't. In fact, the 18th century begat the Enlightenment, partly in reaction to all those wars in the 17th. So, in fact, climate problems sometimes go with wars and sometimes go with revolutions and sometimes with neither one. Not much hope of causal chains there. In some cases, the wars were predictable long before the climate turned bad. The Ming Dynasty's survival till 1644 was a still-unexplained miracle; it was rotten and tottering by 1550 (or even 1500) and would surely have fallen in the 17th century, climate or no. The religious wars of Europe were also a long time coming; they started in the 1200s with the Albigensian Crusade and got steadily more serious as Protestantism appeared. The climax in the 17th century was fairly predictable. So, how much does climate explain? It certainly made people more desperate. It certainly displaced millions, and displaced people have much less vested interest in peace than stably located ones. We will need a lot more studies. Of course, Parker is writing with an eye to our current period of rapid climatic change. I expect that we will see either lots of wars or lots of action to stop climate change. Possibly both. Dr. Parker provides a scary scenario of what might happen (again).

This is a must-read book for anyone interested in or who doubts the effects of climate change. There are some real eye-opening facts in this well-researched, highly readable historical book. The consequences of climate change are laid in in clear, easy to understand sections that cover the span of the globe and how different cultures struggled to deal with the wild swings in weather during the 17th Century. When a dearth of sunspots, coupled with an increase in volcanic activity combined to drop worldwide temperatures by 0.5 to 2 degrees Celsius. It may not seem like much but simple mathematics show the devastating effects even such apparently small changes can have on food production.

I don’t mean to undermine the work that went into this thesis, but it needs to be clearly positioned as a textbook and not as something that might appeal to the everyday reader. The narrative also fails at points to follow any sort of logical progression. That said, high marks for perseverance and effort.

A massive book that is clearly written and ties The 30 Years War, Plagues, Revolutions around the world, and population crises and crash together. Not a Grand Theory book so much as it is an impressive mining of many sources of data to explain how and why the Western World changed so radically and the Enlightenment and technological developments exploded in the 18th Century.

The 17th century appears to be the most calamitous century ever recorded in history. The author does an excellent job of researching this century, its events and the impact and the analysis is also excellent. The author covers all the events of the 17th century, including the wars, the revolutions, the droughts, the major weather events, etc. Further, he lays out the impact of these events on the people who experienced it. Apparently, due to the events of this century, the population of the planet declined 33% with some areas experiencing even worse declines, e.g. China close to 50% and Germany. The reasons for this, the author claims, and provides an excellent rationale to support his conclusions, starts with the worst climate of recorded history. The 17th century experienced some of the coldest months and years on record, some of the driest months and years, some of the wetest months and years, etc. One of the main reasons, apparently, was due to the lack of sun spots. However, El Nino raised its ugly head also to impact the weather differently in different regions of the world. Further, instead of trying to help out their citizens, the 17th century had more wars and longer wars than another century in recorded history. There were only three years in Europe where a war was not being fought. And, there was the 30 years war that totally depopulated parts of Germany and which is still consider by many Germans to be the most calamitous period of German history (even beyond WWII). And, then there was the overthrow of the Ming dynasty in China that resulted in a huge depopulation of that country. And, these wars, droughts, etc., and the resulting hunger and crushing taxes, resulted in rebellions and revolts. The most recognized one is the English Civil War (and Cromwell) which resulted in the only time that the English executed their monarch, King James I. But there were many others, including many parts of the Spanish empire, including Barcelona, Portugal and Naples. These revolts appear to have caused the start of the decline of Spain. To me, much of the book was new and interesting. However, this is a long and can be challenging read. And, the author often takes direct quotes from first persons, especially English, and these comments are horribly misspelled making it even harder to read. Finally, the conclusions - linking the 17th century to today was a stretch. We don't have anywhere near the amount of wars and revolutions occurring and we have the United Nations as a forum to handle these issues. And, whether we are as unprepared for climate change is arguable. In spite of some the challenges, I do recommend this book for anyone interested in history. To me, this was worth the investment in money and time.

I've read the reviews of others and in general agree. I have also read others on this period of climate history and while Fagan tells a great story, what makes this work stand out is the astonishing amount of dat woven into almost every page. Parker has clearly stepped out on a conceptual limb by arguing that climate interacted in significant ways with politics and culture, but his weaving of facts with interpretation is hard to dismiss. I've a few publications myself - research on human behavior - and I appreciate the scholarship labor that must have been involved in drawing this much information into the larger canvas of climate and human outcomes. Due to its length and detail, this is not a book for the casual reader. But for those who wish to really grasp a powerful way to unravel the complexities of the 17th Century, this book is priceless. When I read a text like this all I find myself wanting to do is write a long thank you note to the author. This book is a gift to us all.

Purchased for college. Good price, came with no damage. Highly recommend.

This is a huge and fascinating book about the great crisis of the 17th century. The author is perhaps the greatest living historian of 16th-17th century Iberia, and here he expands his scope to the entire world. He draws connections to the disruptive climate (weather) of the time, one of the temperature troughs in the multi-century Little Ice Age, which is valid, and he avoids overstating his case as most climate warriors seem to do. There are plenty of lessons for today, both climate-related and otherwise (like, tax revolts in France, very current as I write in January 2019). I note that as for climate, all the historical analyses I have seen, including this one, emphasize the bad effects of COOLING, not WARMING. To the extent we expect climate to change (and it is always doing something), we should expect there to be disruptions in human activity, pluses and minuses.

After a couple of scattershot chapters it gets into a country by country history and does a major service to the historical discourse by adding in the food production and taxation effects as the events unfolded. It was also fascinating to look across cultures at the same time: the Chinese, Russian, Ottoman, and European, amongst others, to see that all faced severe weather related problems, but often reacted differently. Recommended for those who are interested in how human society survived and progressed in a particularly trying century.

This great book by Geoffrey Parker was for me, as a Dutchman, a real eye opener. We were always taught at school that the 17th century was called Holland’s Golden Century (Gouden Eeuw). But halfway through this century the Dutch Provinces lost their global influence in trade and their society slit into relative poverty. All this happened rather quickly and has been incomprehensible for many. Parker, in a very captivating way, put this global era in a completely new perspective. He not only describes the effects sudden climate change had on society. Like failing crops, there for no food for the population, with the result that 30% of society just starved. The bottom third of the global population was pushed over the cliff. But also describes, in a very fascinating way, how governments and policy makers muddled through this period. Because of their total lack: of understanding, information and communication. Today we know more and understand more and we have constant actual information we can communicate instantly. I sincerely hope that today’s governments and policy-makers read this book, so we will do better with the eminent climate change we have on our doorstep today.

This is a great work; it will stand as a major history of human beings dealing with multiple crises. I have to disagree with those who say it's "not for the beach" just because it's long. It is so well and compellingly written that it served me well on a long vacation. Infinitely better than those horrible long novels people take with them. My one problem is that Dr. Parker does not really prove a case that climate caused the revolutions and wars. He stops a bit short of saying it did. He correlates wars and rebellions with the horrible climate events of the Little Ice Age, but--in a particularly good section of the book--notes that the awful climate events continued well into the 18th century, but the wars didn't. In fact, the 18th century begat the Enlightenment, partly in reaction to all those wars in the 17th. So, in fact, climate problems sometimes go with wars and sometimes go with revolutions and sometimes with neither one. Not much hope of causal chains there. In some cases, the wars were predictable long before the climate turned bad. The Ming Dynasty's survival till 1644 was a still-unexplained miracle; it was rotten and tottering by 1550 (or even 1500) and would surely have fallen in the 17th century, climate or no. The religious wars of Europe were also a long time coming; they started in the 1200s with the Albigensian Crusade and got steadily more serious as Protestantism appeared. The climax in the 17th century was fairly predictable. So, how much does climate explain? It certainly made people more desperate. It certainly displaced millions, and displaced people have much less vested interest in peace than stably located ones. We will need a lot more studies. Of course, Parker is writing with an eye to our current period of rapid climatic change. I expect that we will see either lots of wars or lots of action to stop climate change. Possibly both. Dr. Parker provides a scary scenario of what might happen (again).

This is a must-read book for anyone interested in or who doubts the effects of climate change. There are some real eye-opening facts in this well-researched, highly readable historical book. The consequences of climate change are laid in in clear, easy to understand sections that cover the span of the globe and how different cultures struggled to deal with the wild swings in weather during the 17th Century. When a dearth of sunspots, coupled with an increase in volcanic activity combined to drop worldwide temperatures by 0.5 to 2 degrees Celsius. It may not seem like much but simple mathematics show the devastating effects even such apparently small changes can have on food production.

I don’t mean to undermine the work that went into this thesis, but it needs to be clearly positioned as a textbook and not as something that might appeal to the everyday reader. The narrative also fails at points to follow any sort of logical progression. That said, high marks for perseverance and effort.

A massive book that is clearly written and ties The 30 Years War, Plagues, Revolutions around the world, and population crises and crash together. Not a Grand Theory book so much as it is an impressive mining of many sources of data to explain how and why the Western World changed so radically and the Enlightenment and technological developments exploded in the 18th Century.

The 17th century appears to be the most calamitous century ever recorded in history. The author does an excellent job of researching this century, its events and the impact and the analysis is also excellent. The author covers all the events of the 17th century, including the wars, the revolutions, the droughts, the major weather events, etc. Further, he lays out the impact of these events on the people who experienced it. Apparently, due to the events of this century, the population of the planet declined 33% with some areas experiencing even worse declines, e.g. China close to 50% and Germany. The reasons for this, the author claims, and provides an excellent rationale to support his conclusions, starts with the worst climate of recorded history. The 17th century experienced some of the coldest months and years on record, some of the driest months and years, some of the wetest months and years, etc. One of the main reasons, apparently, was due to the lack of sun spots. However, El Nino raised its ugly head also to impact the weather differently in different regions of the world. Further, instead of trying to help out their citizens, the 17th century had more wars and longer wars than another century in recorded history. There were only three years in Europe where a war was not being fought. And, there was the 30 years war that totally depopulated parts of Germany and which is still consider by many Germans to be the most calamitous period of German history (even beyond WWII). And, then there was the overthrow of the Ming dynasty in China that resulted in a huge depopulation of that country. And, these wars, droughts, etc., and the resulting hunger and crushing taxes, resulted in rebellions and revolts. The most recognized one is the English Civil War (and Cromwell) which resulted in the only time that the English executed their monarch, King James I. But there were many others, including many parts of the Spanish empire, including Barcelona, Portugal and Naples. These revolts appear to have caused the start of the decline of Spain. To me, much of the book was new and interesting. However, this is a long and can be challenging read. And, the author often takes direct quotes from first persons, especially English, and these comments are horribly misspelled making it even harder to read. Finally, the conclusions - linking the 17th century to today was a stretch. We don't have anywhere near the amount of wars and revolutions occurring and we have the United Nations as a forum to handle these issues. And, whether we are as unprepared for climate change is arguable. In spite of some the challenges, I do recommend this book for anyone interested in history. To me, this was worth the investment in money and time.

I've read the reviews of others and in general agree. I have also read others on this period of climate history and while Fagan tells a great story, what makes this work stand out is the astonishing amount of dat woven into almost every page. Parker has clearly stepped out on a conceptual limb by arguing that climate interacted in significant ways with politics and culture, but his weaving of facts with interpretation is hard to dismiss. I've a few publications myself - research on human behavior - and I appreciate the scholarship labor that must have been involved in drawing this much information into the larger canvas of climate and human outcomes. Due to its length and detail, this is not a book for the casual reader. But for those who wish to really grasp a powerful way to unravel the complexities of the 17th Century, this book is priceless. When I read a text like this all I find myself wanting to do is write a long thank you note to the author. This book is a gift to us all.

Purchased for college. Good price, came with no damage. Highly recommend.

I am reading this a second time, as it parallels what is happening to day as far as climate change, epidemics, wars, drought and flooding, food shortages and famine, It is interesting to read about how this affected people in different parts of the world in the 17th Century, of course it would and is impacting us differently but also similarly.

Highly recommended. I was somewhat aware of the major events in the 17th Century but not the world wide drama that happened throughout most of the century. The extent that the weather exacerbated the dire events, and even drove them, was not apparent in my previous readings. It was adapt or die and there was a lot of dying.

Well considered history of the Little Ice Age. The human response of government magnified the tragedy and suffering that the world's humans endured.

Haven’t finished it yet. Parker’s longview perspective really helps prepare us for the potential outcomes.

Superb! Provides deep and convincing evidence of beep to cope pro-actively with increasing real mounting frequency of natural disasters from many causes (such as: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, low solar activity, El Niño events resulting in destructive storms and flooding) which can be usefully be termed "climate change". A "must read" for all thinking people!

My copy arrived in perfect condition, and well protected against any possible damage during shipping. I would certainly recommend them to anyone.

Excellent book which shows 17th century global social and political effects of climate change. Appropriately documented and cleverly illustrated. Contemporary implications clear and prescient.

The historical reconstruction on different levels, different areas, different points of view is astounding. The Climate-Economy-Politics linkage is well depicted and complete. The ample bibliography is a companion to navigation. I am suggesting this to both readers of History and Modern Climate Scientists.

This is a serious work of both the history of the time specified, namely the seventeenth century, and brings long overdue scholarship to the events that are encompassed in the phrase "climate change", a more than often over emotionally discussed question.. This is particularly so when within a nanosecond the topic is linked to "global warming" without the least attention paid to the history of what has actually happened in our sort period of observations of climate change and indeed that endlessly fascinating topic for us, namely the weather! However, one of the main reasons for reading this book is that this is a serious work of scholarship and no-one should simply see it as work that relates solely to those words in the title namely "the Seventeenth Century". The author ranges widely over the observed history of climate change starting out in his Prologue with the observation that "Climate change has almost extinguished life on earth on three occasions". The thesis that that simple word "weather" and all it connotes can and has led to social and governmental change often violent and usually unanticipated is rigorously explored and set out before us. The research that forms the spine of this book is exemplified by one hundred and twenty six pages listing sources and bibliography. To any of those scientists who have sought to make their reputation by the endless exploitation of some minimal science, futile conjecture on the subject of global warming, I would just say, "Read this book and reflect on your false premises." Kinmont

It's long, and has a great deal of detailed information about the subject. But everyone who pretends to take an authoritative stance on National Policy on Climate Change and National Strategy in general would profit from reading it.

This is more than an account of the impact of the Little Ice Age - that is only the catalyst for change. Parker weaves a fascinating account of political and social change, what is often referred to as the age of enlightenment, that emerged from the calamities and deprivations of the early 17th century. Highly recommended.

An original and fascinating take on a sadly timely slice of history, reminding us that climate change had global impact East and West, North and South, in the 17th century. Karl Meyer/Shareen Brysac

This very thoroughly researched book tries to prove that adverse climate changes in the XVIIth century had more important role in the extraordinary historical events of the period than previously thought or admitted by historians. I have to say that I am just partly convinced. The extreme climate events of the Little Ice Age and the "global crisis" unfolding in the age are presented side by side, which makes a compelling case that they can be related somehow. But as the book admits, there were extreme climate events without turmoil in the affected societies before and after and there were revolutions, wars, etc. where climate change had no role. After having read the book I have only a vague feeling why climate and historical events had such a dramatic synergy in the XVIIth century. The book presents an impressive array of facts and sources but I sometimes felt that it was overdone. I often read pages of facts that I felt not related to the main discussion. But I still feel that it is worth reading this book, if not for other reason then to see, how significant climate changes happened just some 100s of years ago. I definitely don't feel so safe after having discovered this fact.

Massive amount of detail but well put together. Takes some time to get through. Would be an excellent reference for this period of history.

Well written, Mr Parker has offered up a window into how weather impacted war, disease and famine before and after Europe's 30 years war.

This is an impressive book- well-researched, informative, and written with great clarity and insight. A must for anyone interested in the long 17th century.

The Seventeenth century has been called the global crisis because of the number of war, regicides and famines. As Mr.. Parker tells us the world's population diminished by a third by the end of this century by war, famine, plague and cold. Parker adds an element which I have never seen before, the climate. This century, which climatologists have called the Little Ice Age, was on average two to three degrees centigrade below our current temperatures. Most of the famines which occurred during this period were caused be crop failure caused by the cold and by the insistence of many monarchs such as Phillip IV of Spain and Louis XIV of France to continue wars by taxing the population into starvation. The author provides analysis of nations from Japan to England and Russia to India with little discussion of the Southern hemisphere or the Americas because of little data for those areas. Mark Patterson

Before global warming alarmists start following lock step with climatologists. rad what historians have to say about it. Historians have been tracking the weather and the climate far longer than our scientists, and they dislike us for that. This is a great read.

Great read for those interested in seventeenth century history and how it relates to some of the issues of today.

A Treasure Trove of Historical Data. Ordered the paper version to be able to read the maps and old illustrations

Parker has undertaken a prodigious task to relate 17th century "Little Ice Age" to political crisis across the entire world. His efforts to relate climate fluctuations with war, famine etc. are interesting, but much greater in detail in Europe where his scholarly background lies. Discussions of China, Japan and Islamic world interesting but less original in basis. Charts not always clear, though some enhance the text. This is a book that includes an excellent bibliography, is clearly aimed at the scholarly community and at over 700 pages is not for the faint hearted. Concluding section relating 17th c. to the present will only convince the already converted to importance of climate issues.

a very well written book with a very good insight for the effects of climate change (in globe able cooling)

Comprehensive and very readable, Global Crisis has kept me interested and filled countless gaps in my knowledge. It was way past time that there was at least an attempt to combine the political, economic and climate histories of an era, specially one as turbulent as the 17th century. And although I am not an expert on history, I think that Geoffrey Parker has done a terrific job. Although it is tempting to draw close parallels with the political machinations of that era with those of today, I believe that to do so is rather facile in the influences are vastly different. However, the way sudden changes in climate, and I mean the natural changes that come from perturbations in the earth's movement around the sun, sun spots, and various other natural phenomena can influence world politics is a real caution. It should also signal that current changes in world climate are more likely to be "natural" than man-induced. The various reasons given for the appalling consequences of changes in climate during that era...mainly the wrath of whichever God was paramount in their particular societies, is an interesting parallel to the current fixation on that natural gas CO2. All in all a very worth while read.

received item as advertised in a timely matter.

This book tells the story of the 17th century with its chaos, famine, revolutions, harsh weather and wars, and does in an all-encompassing look across the globe. Much of this story has been told before either in works focusing on individual areas, or as a whole. The premise underlying this retelling is that harsh and unusual weather/climate had a greater role in triggering the political upheaval than heretofore appreciated. There is no doubt that the climate was severe based on historical records and observations, and that it resulted in famine, population decrease etc. It's a little less clear to what extent the climate triggered the political events. The author interjects the climatic variables into the historical story and suggests they played a role but at times it's not clear whether the climatic effects were causal, correlated, or simply co-existed. So we hear that cold, heat, drought, floods played into the historical events, but in some instances they are interjected into the currency of the events, which is no more meaningful than to acknowledge that while the unusually early and cold winter halted Napolean's and Hitler's attempt to conquer Russia, that the winters were in any way causal of their invasions rather than correlated or co-existent. In most cases the author attempts to find and indicate causality but the lines do get blurred as to what was causal or coincidental, as the book repeatedly interject into the narrative that 'it was the coldest, hottest, driest, wettest' etc,; points out the disruption and famine that was undoubtedly caused by these changes and infers theeir connections as causative cause rather than an harsh but co-existent modifier of the events. When climate change was not associated with massive unrest (Japan e.g) the author relates that to a better organized government and less pressure on the food supply among other explanations...which seems to try to have the climate stor both ways, although those mitigating effects may indeed by true. It's a historian's prerogative to build and 'theme' the root causes of historical events... The historical events happen once but can have many interpretations... a la the dozens of books written about the precedents for say, the attack on Pearl Harbor or the causes of WWII. I don't give the book less than 5 stars because of the thesis relating to the climate...it's a little dense and dry at times to read as it covers the events of the century, and begins to get a bit repetitive.. Overall, it's a good account of the travails of that century with an interesting theme that has much to support the premise of induction by climate...but if you've read about the chaos of the 17th century in any other book you won't get much more out of this than 'it was the coldest, hottest, driest, wettest, drought stricken, volcano inflicted' etc interjections, and you can add them yourself to your other readings, as they did occur.... but what they caused and with what they simply coincided or exacerbated is hard to tell. The author may have been better placed to focus on the exacerbation of the events by climate rather than reaching to causality...but it wouldn't have been such a provocative new approach...which he is entitled to venture...

It's a good and very interesting book which I can recommend to all lovers of historic books

I ordered the book because its title implied that the main subject was how climate changes effected human societies in past eras. I found that the discussions of "climate" were pretty simple and didn't seem significant. "It was very cold in 1620 and wet in 1621" is not a discussion of climate but a weather report. The book then focuses primarily on the social/historic causes of the conflicts of that era with passing references to crude weather history. The historic events are interesting but are covered elsewhere. I think the title is misleading

Quite interesting.

OK, so I haven't started reading it yet, but the jacket is awesome

This very interesting and well written book is an ambitious survey of the traumatic 17th century. Parker is an expert on 17th century Europe who has written previously on this and quite a number of related topics. This book is a successful attempt to summarize a huge amount of historial information about the 17th century across the globe and draws not only on the very large range of secondary literature but also an impressive number of primary sources. Parker is a fine writer and shrewd analyst. Even by the turbulent standards of human history, the 17th century was a particularly deadly period. While no one can know for certain, its plausible that somewhere between a quarter and a third of humanity in Eurasia perished prematurely across the 17th century. Famine, disease, and a great deal of prolonged conflict characterized the 17th century. This includes such well known events as the 30 Years War in Europe and the Ming-Qing transition in China. Parker describes 5 interacting features that drove the disasters of the 17th century. This is the period of the Little Ice Age (LIA), which resulted in diminished agricultural output and frequent harvest failures across the globe. Parker points out that the relatively benign 16th century had seen considerable population growth putting greater numbers of people at risk for subsistence crises. Important interacting human factors were the growth across Eurasia of states powerful enough to support substantial and destructive armies but not powerful or rich enough to produce centralized states that could mitigate the environmental and military challenges of the period. Finally, there was enough economic growth to produce large (and vulnerable) cities and some degree of regional specialization in agriculture, but not enough wealth to allow really large scale movement of foodstuffs to alleviate subsistence crises. After a short analytical introduction, much of the book is a series of chapters analyzing the events of the 17th century across the globe. These focus on political history but stress the interactions of the 5 factors that Parker identifies in his analysis. These sections are generally done very well and contain a wealth of interesting detail. Parker covers Europe, the Ottoman Empire, Mughal India, and China in some detail with excursions to other regions of the globe. He draws on the particularly rich literature on Britain with 2 outstanding chapters on the English Civil War and related events. There is some duplication in these narrative chapters but they also give a very nice sense of the global connectedness of events. Parker also does very well in maintaining a truly global focus. A good deal of the narrative and analysis shows how 17th century developments set the stage for subsequent events in the 18th and subsequent centuries. In a particularly nice chapter on Tokugawa Japan, Parker shows a counter-example to his general model. Because of continuous warfare in the 16th century, Japan had a relatively low population density and was less susceptible to subsistence problems. It was a unified state that avoided the internecine conflicts seen in Europe and the Tokugawa state avoided international conflict and devoted considerable resources to relief. One relatively minor problem is that the narrative chapters tend to overwhelm the analysis at times, giving parts of this book a bit of a can't see the forest for the trees character. Parker also has a short epilogue section in which he points to the relevance of the impact of climate change in the 17th century to our contemporary problems. Parker rightly stresses the destructive effects of climate changes but actually understates the problem. The situation we're in now is not like the 17th century. The magnitude of the changes in train under business as usual greenhouse gas emissions are likely much greater than those seen in the 17th century.

This 904-pages-long behemoth looked very promising from the beginning: I love works of Parker on the Military Revolution and the Spanish Army of Flanders. But while I read the book, my judgement had been going down gradually from 5 stars to 1. The main argument of connection between climate and social upheavals is not convincing at all and is refuted at many places by the author's own words. Worst of all, the exceptional character of the mid-17th century troubles is not proved at all because comparisons with 16th and 18th century are omitted. I remain with Niels Steensgaard, who wrote that the concept of a seventeenth-century ‘General Crisis’ has ‘become a synonym for what historians in other centuries call “history”'. The second fault of the book is that all chapters with an overview of some theme lack structure and are a motley collection of interesting facts and conclusions with unknown basis and questionable methodologies. Also, the author repeats himself a lot, which gets extremely irritant by the end of the book. The third fault is that a major part of the book consists of chapters on certain states, but that chapters are no better than Wikipedia articles and sometimes even worse. They contain the information that is well known to anyone familiar with the 17th century history. At some times these accounts are very biased and shallow (especially the chapters on Russia and England). Therefore, I do not find a reason for anyone to waste time with this book. If your are in search for an academic research - there are deeper articles and monographs. If you want a concise history of the world in the 17th century - there are livelier and more objective accounts.

Well, if you need material for your PhD this is the book. I have never seen a book better researched, more detailed and chronicled. The author takes great pains to have the reader fully understand the events of the 17th Century. Having said all this, I did not need so much detail, much of which I admittedly skipped. This is a great work, but the reader must be prepared for labor. Not reading for the beach.

This is an excellent book. It is a little heavy in weight but full of info. The subject--the 17th century was really a mess. If something could go wrong, it did. We probably just barely survived as a civilization. My only warning is that the author refers back to previous chapters later on when he handles specific problems. This appears to show up as a style in some other history books.

Huge - even overwhelming - amount of detail about the 17th century worldwide, both historically significant events and the broader impact of said events on the general population. Especially interesting was the contrast between isolationist Japan and the expansionist, war mongering elites of the rest of the world. Lots of detail about the horrific impact on the general population(s) of both the policies of the elites and climate cooling. But, precious little to distinguish between the two. The gist is that it was an awful period in human history because of the behavior of hubristic elites, and it was made worse by climate cooling. Worse by how much is never clear, nor does it seem very possible to parse the difference between them. Lots of turgid prose to make that unanalysed point. If you're thinking of reading it to get some insight into the possible effect of climate change in the 21st century - as I was - save yourself the effort.

Culminating decades of research, this gargantuan tome should enjoy a similarly long life. The core ideas aren't exactly new (so let's say 4.5 stars); cf. earlier work by Jean and Richard Grove, HH Lamb, Brian Fagan. But it's now authoritative on 17C crises. Though Parker is most at home in his original European specialty, "GC" is genuinely global in scope with much to offer on other regions. It's truly inter/multidisciplinary history, but readable style helps make scientific and technical details accessible. One nice treat is having illustrations keyed to page numbers, helping to find further information swiftly. There are drawbacks: the (well-organized) avalanche of data will deter some readers, not least because this is an analytical study, not a narrative. More important, it is hard to conclusively prove causation between macro-level -- ENSOs, drought, famine, etc -- and micro-level events like wars and revolts. Overall, Parker is persuasive in making connections and avoiding determinism, though specialists will weigh in as needed. This is also present-minded scholarship, as Parker has an eye on the future in recounting varied responses to natural and political disaster. Some, like state grain reserves, provided crucial food relief. Others are more disturbing, like state repression to counter unrest. But proper knowledge of this earlier "time of troubles" can help prepare for current and future challenges posed by climate change. Will we learn in time?

This book is a great, marvelously chaotic storm of unleashed scholarship, which is badly in need of editorial re-engineering. There are potentially four separate books in various stages of development locked up inside these almost 1,000 pages. They are: -The Little Ice Age: 1300 to 1850 A.D. -Tumultuous Times: A Global Survey of the Seventeenth Century. -Europe and Asia: The Great Divergence -Why I Hate Republicans, and why you should too! Here are the highs and lows of each book-within-a-book: -‘The Little Ice Age: 1300 to 1850 A.D’ is the suggested title for the Climate Change component of ‘Global Crisis’. The raw material for this book includes roughly the first 100 pages of ‘Global Crisis’, but it is in a very raw form. The key problem is that the natural, physical event known as the Little Ice Age covers about 550 years, but the author is so fixated on the Seventeenth Century that he fails to accurately come to grips with the event as a whole. There are glimmers of a good science-oriented book in here, however, if Parker or some other writer wants to give it a serious go. -’Tumultuous Times: A Global Survey of the Seventeenth Century.’ This is the best developed, most successful part of the book, which comprises about 400 pages. It is a balanced, comprehensive survey of World History during the 1600’s, stretching all the way from Cromwellian England to Tokugawa Japan, with peripheral landings in the Americas and Africa as well. You’ll learn about everything from how the Cossack Host came into being, to the perils inherent to empire when you rely too heavily on your 80,000 palace eunuchs to run the government bureaucracy, to the twin evils of the Tanistry and Harem systems of imperial succession, to the hellish nightmare that was Germany during The Thirty Year’s War, to the confusions, errors, and limitations which beset the vast, all powerful yet overextended and declining Spanish Empire, a tale which reads eerily similar in certain respects to the current condition of the United States in world affairs. -Europe and Asia: The Great Divergence. I’d like to know what Parker thinks about this subject, but by the end of the book when this chapter was finally written the author had lost his focus and went wandering off into the tall grass of too many tangents. Perhaps I’ll just have to settle for what Niall Ferguson has already said about this subject. -’Why I Hate Republicans, and why you should too!’ Parker conveyed in the final chapter of his book the emotional depth of his concern about current Climate Change as a political issue, identified whom he believes the villains are, and tells a good success story about how the United Kingdom prudently invested in some costly but timely and effective flood abatement infrastructure to prevent the Thames from overflowing its banks and inundating London. However, these last few pages come totally out of the blue - he has just put his readers through a forced march from Paris to Moscow in deepest winter, where he has waxed eloquently and endlessly about the historical disaster that was the naturally caused Climate Change of the 17th century, then charges in, without explanation or preamble, into the politics of contemporary Climate Change without giving his most patient readers any evidence to support his strongly held beliefs. Since Parker feels so strongly about this topic, he should first study it and come to understand the subject, then write a credible book about it.

Because a commentary is required for each review I will not rate any of them individually but am glad to say that I can always count on Amazon and am happy with my many purchases through it. Patsy

My apologies as this is not a review but rather a question for those that have read this book and commented on it here on Amazon. George Will, the syndicated columnist, has written an op-ed piece that has appeared in various newspapers on or around 1/8/15, stating that neither this book nor William Rosen's, "The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century" "...supports those who believe human behavior is the sovereign or even primary disrupter of climate normality, whatever that might be." I haven't read either book and, based on at least some of the reviews for each, I'm not sure I will, but I'd be genuinely interested in someone who has read this book and perhaps the other one, along with Will's piece, to comment on that piece as it regards the two books. Thank you!

Quick service and item as described. Would recommend and use this provider again.

Thomas Gale Moore's books show global warming is much more helpful than harmful: Climate of fear : why we shouldn't worry about global warming Global warming : a boon to humans and other animals

So far I've been dipping between reading the epilogue and starting at the beginning. So far some very compelling arguments presented on the effect of climate on human behaviour in the broad. As a fiction author with a thirst for accuracy, I've been logging the weather from various sources in my usual period, 1775-1820 in Britain which is enough of a challenge, and wondering how much effect the climate change of the Dalton Minimum had, and I am now inclined to consider looking at it more closely. Having recently been studying Polish history to follow up a wild interest in winged hussars, I bought this book which was recommended by a friend, and it is a tremendous help, and explains a passage in Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel 'Potop' in which King Jan II Kazimierz Wasa makes the famous Lwów oath in April when there is hard frost. That this is a world-wide study is mind-blowing and I salute the author for dedication and scholarship.

This is a voyage into Braudelian history as a world full (by the contemporary standards) of people collides with climate change. The book's strength is looking not only for the similarities across cultures but the differences. How Japanese rulers reacted compared to the Qing is very informative as is the effect on Latin America where populations were comparatively low after the various post-Conquistador policies and epidemics. The question of whether the plague of revolts, rebellions and revolutions was caused by the Little Ice Age or was already in process is less easy to answer. There was clearly a growing difference between an increasingly educated underclass and a governing class used to rule by fiat (especially where it lacked the apparatus to rule properly). Later in the "long 17th century" after the many bloodlettings the propensity to revolt reduced, was it a Hobbesian reaction to chaos or simply the result of less people sharing the same resource. This is a book that makes you think and want to discuss, and it will not be the last word.

I was impressed by this book. Geoffrey Parker manages to paint the history of the 17th. Century in a way which manages to bring together so many different regional strands without forgetting the major core events of the time. The style is quite approachable without lacking unapproachable rigour. One was left with the impression that the Century impacted negatively on ALL parts of the world. I was able to link the chaos of Britain with that in so many other regions, in the same timeframe. A pity that my GCE syllabus wasn't so compartmentalised:I might have chosen History for my degree!

This is a very, very good book. I came across it by accident, almost hidden in a not-often-visited section of local library. After browsing it, decided I wanted my own copy. There is so much in this book it is difficult to do it justice. Its sub-heading is "War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the 17th Century", the author's research is incredible. Highly recommended

i bought the kindle version and it is a great book for what I wanted, and value for money.

The scope of this book is quite extraordinary and the scholarship involved somewhat intimidating. A detailed insight into events that few appear to be aware of but which have contributed to shaping the world we live in. There are lessons to be learned for the survival of mankind but whether they will be observed is open to question. In spite of its length and the detail I found it an absorbing and easy read although I struggled with the pronunciation of Chinese and Japanese names. If your interest is in history and you are curious as to how we have managed to survive this long then you should read this book.

Next day delivery. Great service. Great product as advertised. Thanks

Fascinating survey of a critical period in European history.

excellent

Geoffrey Parker,mondialement connu pour la thématique sur la Révolution Militaire, aborde ici un nouveau thème mettant en perspective les évolutions, politiques, économiques et militaires dans ce que l'on appelle la crise du 17ème siècle. Le petit âge glaciaire a sévi plusieurs pays du globe et l'auteur montre avec brio l'impact du climat, et des événements naturels. C'est un livre avec de nombreuses références et qui n'est pas centré seulement sur l'Europe. Geoffrey Parker aborde le thème de façon mondiale en tenant compte des recherches menées depuis une dizaine d'années et indiquant par ailleurs les vides subsistants ainsi que les axes à approfondir. C'est un excellent livre d'histoire qui se lit très bien

Although very interesting and often reading like today's news....it was far too long a saga......just skipped the last 2 chapters

Excellent reference book but not to be read in one go. Perhaps more for an historian.

well put together book looking from all sides in the war . I think it makes it clear just why the war started

Fascinating but not very cheering. Too many parallels with now!

Geoffrey Parker is a great expert in this period. A fascinating read.

awesome

This work has received outstanding reviews, but reviewers have noted its length, and the unrelentingly depressing story it tells of global crisis, famine, plague, war, revolution and social breakdown. There are harrowing sections on infanticide, rape, abortion and war. Nevertheless it is a delight to read: constantly moving focus, always illuminated by testimony from unfamiliar sources, ranging widely in geography and subject matter. For many UK readers this may be their first in-depth encounter with Chinese and Japanese history, and the book is worth the effort for that alone.

Prompt delivery; product as described

This book looks at the 17th century from a completely different aspect. It shows how climate change, there Mini Ice Age, affected mankind in spectacular ways. A brilliant book with the broadest canvas deftly and brilliantly handled. Parker handles how the mini ice age affected society from China to Scotland: brilliant and a truly mind changing perspective.