Floods, Famines, and Emperors

“Fagan makes high drama out of…the cracking of El Nino’s riddle.”—Washington Post

“The aberrant and often devastating weather patterns brought on by El Nino are by now familiar. According to Fagan, they have had a less recognized effect. Could severe climatic change topple a modern civilization?”—Scientific American

“Fagan… draws on his archaeology background to intriguingly explore the correlation between unusual climatic shifts and unusual historical events.”—Kirkus

“Brian Fagan's engaging new book is a masterful synthesis of ocean, atmosphere and human dynamics. It chronicles the commanding interplay of climatic change and the creation and collapse of great civilizations. This is compelling reading for the global audience of a warming world.” —Michael E. Moseley, author of The Incas and Their Ancestors

“Clear, precise and thoroughly engaging...Drawing on an encyclopedic range of sources—archaeology, geology, history and ethnography—Fagan immerses the reader in a lively anecdotal portrait of the relationship between major climatic events and major historical events in both ancient and modern times. This is a must-read for laypersons, serious scholars and students alike.”—Thomas D. Dillehay, University of Kentucky

“Every so often, advances in scientific understanding require reconsideration of the historic record. Brian Fagan brings recent climatology to bear on history with admirable and entirely convincing skill. A landmark book.”—William H. McNeill, author of Plagues and Peoples