Nature's Mutiny: How the Little Ice Age of the Long Seventeenth Century Transformed the West and Shaped the Present

by Philipp Blom

Although hints of a crisis appeared as early as the 1570s, the temperature by the end of the sixteenth century plummeted so drastically that Mediterranean harbors were covered with ice, birds literally dropped out of the sky, and “frost fairs” were erected on a frozen Thames—with kiosks, taverns, and even brothels that become a semi-permanent part of the city.


Recounting the deep legacy and far-ranging consequences of this “Little Ice Age,” acclaimed historian Philipp Blom reveals how the European landscape had suddenly, but ineradicably, changed by the mid-seventeenth century. While apocalyptic weather patterns destroyed entire harvests and incited mass migrations, they gave rise to the growth of European cities, the emergence of early capitalism, and the vigorous stirrings of the Enlightenment. A timely examination of how a society responds to profound and unexpected change, Nature’s Mutiny will transform the way we think about climate change in the twenty-first century and beyond.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Environment, European History, Nature, Audiobook

326 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2017

About the author

Philipp Blom is a German novelist who currently lives and works in Vienna, Austria. He is best known for his novel, The Simmons Papers (1995). His 2007 novel, Luxor has not yet been translated into English. He is a professional historian who studied at Vienna and Oxford with a focus on eighteenth-century intellectual history. His academic works include: To Have and to Hold: An Intimate History of Collectors and Collecting; Encyclopédie, and The Vertigo Years: Change and Culture in the West, 1900-1914. He is also the author of The Wines of Austria.

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nature's Mutiny contains some interesting vignettes about European history, but the conclusions drawn about the effects of the Little Ice Age often feel like a stretch on the part of the author.

While there are some segments of the book in which Blom convincingly connects the changing climate with human society, there are huge swaths of text that seem to lapse into needless digression that is only tangentially tied to climate and sometimes not tied to it at all.

Blom frequently meanders off into lengthy diatribes on religion and philosophy. Sometimes he tries to tie them back to the purported topic of the book, sometimes he doesn't. Either way, the connection isn't there.

A more condensed, better edited version of this might have played better. Cut down to the information that actually relates to the book's alleged subject, this might have been a more convincing argument by the author.

I enjoyed the book regardless of its flaws, and it's certainly a great brush-up for students of this period of European history, but the actual content doesn't quite match up with the book's objective.

*I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

[nettebuecherkiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Von der sogenannten „Kleinen Eiszeit“ werden die meisten schon einmal gehört haben, doch wie entscheidend sie insbesondere die sozioökonomische Entwicklung im Europa der frühen Neuzeit und der Glaubenskriege prägte, war mir nicht bewusst. Philipp Blom legt die krassen Auswirkungen im vorliegenden Werk ausführlich dar und geht dabei intensiv insbesondere auf die wirtschaftlichen Folgen ein, die unter anderem die Landwirtschaft in Europa für immer veränderten. Auch die damit zusammenhängenden Auswirkungen auf Gesellschaft und Philosophie werden ausführlich geschildert. Viele Aspekte der Geschichte, die man vielleicht nicht auf den ersten Blick mit der Kleinen Eiszeit verbindet, wurden von ihr entscheidend beeinflusst, etwa die Hexenverfolgung.

Die Konzentration des Buches auf Wirtschaft und Philosophie – beides Bereiche, in denen ich deutliche Wissenslücken habe – machte das Buch für mich nicht ganz einfach lesbar. Dennoch fand ich es durchweg interessant und es hat mich dazu inspiriert, mehr über den Philosophen Baruch Spinoza zu lesen, dessen im Buch vorgestellte Theorien mich faszinieren. Auch der Epilog, in dem ein Vergleich mit unserem aktuellen Klimawandel aufgestellt und unser in jeder Hinsicht (etwa der auf unendlichem Wachstum beruhenden Marktwirtschaft) mangelhafter Umgang damit beklagt wird, konnte mich überzeugen.

[Dave Schoettinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had heard about the colder temperatures prevalent in Europe of the 16th and 17th centuries and expected this book to be a series of answers to the "How cold was it?". There was some of that, but Blum makes it clear that he is not a climatologist and that he is skeptical that any of the explanations that he found for the colder weather is the complete answer, and he is more interested in the impacts of the weather, rather than the weather itself.

The narrative progresses largely as a number of biographical sketches of several of the people who lived through this period. Some were familiar names such as Descartes, Locke, and Voltaire, but were many others were people I had never heard of. The author's focus was on the thoughts (usually disputing the current paradigm) and the kind of reception those thoughts received from their contemporaries. Some were hailed as great philosophers, while others were burned at the stake.

The author's point seems to be that the terrible weather made many persons question the prevailing view that there was a deity controlling things and made them receptive to alternative explanations of reality. Whether you accept the contention that climate was one of the contributing factors to the development of the Enlightenment or not, the narrative of what ideas were circulating around Europe in this era is very interesting.

[Occhionelcielo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Divagazione personale: soltanto nel 1996, a 32 anni suonati, sentivo parlare della cosiddetta "Piccola Glaciazione" degli anni 1570 - 1720.
La scoperta non scaturì però dal ciclo di studi completo, con tanto di esame di storia economica.
Devo infatti ringraziare la "Gambero Rosso Editore" con il suo agile "Il Vino. Storia e Curiosità" di Daniele Cernilli e Marco Sabellico.
Questo, tanto per inquadrare la generale noncuranza per la storia del clima, atteggiamento pagato a caro prezzo negli ultimi anni.

Ho quindi appreso con entusiasmo dell'esistenza di questo saggio sull'argomento, con tanto di splendida copertina.
Purtroppo l'entusiasmo è scemato con lo scorrere delle pagine.

Per prima cosa, manca tutta la parte legata al dato strettamente climatologico, vale a dire le probabili cause così come i reali effetti sull'ecosistema.

Secondo e più importante aspetto: proprio in questi anni, tutti i popoli mediterranei, ma proprio tutti dal Portogallo alla Turchia fino alla sponda Sud, conoscono un letargo inspiegabile, che si paga ancora ai giorni nostri.
Che c'entri qualcosa la Piccola Glaciazione? Silenzio o quasi.
Soltanto una lunga disamina su come i popoli del Mare del Nord, in apparenza svantaggiati, raccolgono la sfida e pongono le premesse per l'Illuminismo, lo stato di diritto, la rivoluzione industriale, etc..

In terzo luogo, l'autore mi ha deluso nel capitolo conclusivo, laddove relativizza le conquiste democratiche, affermando che riguardano una piccolissima parte di tutti gli uomini vissuti sulla terra e che probabilmente non sono destinate a durare.
Sarà pure un'affermazione basata su studi approfonditi, ma a me, comunque, è andata di traverso.

Buona quindi l'idea, non male l'excursus sui popoli protestanti, ma secondo me la sfida non ha ricevuto adeguata risposta.
Il punto di riferimento rimane la guida del Gambero Rosso.

[Matthew Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

However enjoyable and readable this books is, I find some of the research and reasoning problematic.

For instance, the author mentions Shakespeare's play "Coriolanus" and dates it to 1608 exactly and states that bread riots were happening in London on exactly the same year. The issue I have with this is that none of Shakespeare's plays can be dated exactly, and some can only be dated approximately. "Coriolanus" can actually be dated between 1605 and 1609, but not to a precise year (Wikipedia states the source as Chambers, E.K. (1930). William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems, Vol. I. Oxford: Clarendon. p. 480. ISBN 978-0-19-811773-5. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2014.).

The other issue I have with this book that it seems to show confusion between causation and correlation.

For instance, if, hypothetically, I close the kitchen door and we suddenly have a rainstorm, you cannot say that my closing the kitchen door caused the rainstorm; simply, that both happened at the same time. Proving causation is actually quite hard.

Similarly, Mr. Blom tries to state a hypothesis that because of the climate change during the "Little Ice Age," this therefore caused massive societal changes in Europe, for instance, how economies changed from largely agricultural to primitive market-based capitalism, how people started to believe in the inherent rights of human beings, and how Protestantism (in particular, Calvinism, and its associated harshness towards the impoverished) challenged Catholicism. While I would like to believe in this theory, in my opinion, the author does not satisfactorily prove it at all.

There are positives about this book. He writes exceedingly well in English. I am extraordinarily impressed with how he translated it from his native German to English. However, because, in my opinion, the central point is not convincingly presented, I am only giving it three stars instead of five.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a well written but very frustrating book, which sets out to explore what effect climatic change had on European society in the 16th and 17th century but seems to forget this theme within about 40 pages.

The history offered is actually very interest, accessible and engagingly written. The problem is that Blom, having established that the Little Ice Age had effects on resources and food for the majority of Europeans from 1580 onwards, doesn't make nearly enough connection between the immediate effects of the colder climate and the broader societal trends he spends the majority of this book explaining.

At best, his documentation of the wide ranging philosophical, economic and religious changes of the period rely on a simple correlation between these events and the changing climate they occur in. Most often in this history, however, even this correlation is forgotten - returning once every fifteen pages with reference to the cold or poor harvests. The inclusion of a fascinating multiple page history of Descartes, for example, is justified because he died of the cold in the 1640s; this is the general level of connection between the climate and events that is offered throughout the book.

If you are interested in the history of the 1580s-1720s, particularly the interplay between science and religion, this is worth a read. It is deeply frustrating that an otherwise well written history misses its intended argument so often.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had mixed reactions to this book. Starting with what’s good about it, the author has lots of interesting things to say about various historical personages. I never heard of Uriel da Costa, a member of the Amsterdam Jewish community, who was excluded from the community for heretical ideas, and ultimately whipped and walked over by other Jews in the synagogue, which eventually led to his suicide. Blom tries to tie da Costa to Spinoza, another ex-communicated Jew in Amsterdam, but since Spinoza was eight years old at the time of da Costa’s humiliation, it seems a bit of a stretch to consider what happened to da Costa as a lesson for Spinoza.

Another person I never heard of was Sabbatai Zevi, who claimed to be the Messiah in 1648, and said that 1666 would be the coming of a new era and the homecoming of all Jews into the Holy Land. It didn’t work out that way. Zevi went to Constantinople, where he hoped to be made a spiritual leader by the sultan. Instead, he was arrested. After several months in prison, he was granted an audience with the sultan, who gave him a choice. Allow an archer to shoot an arrow at Zevi’s chest. If he were really the Messiah, he couldn’t be harmed since the Messiah was invulnerable. If, on the other hand, Zevi refused the challenge, he would immediately convert to Islam. Zevi and his followers yielded and became Muslims. He tried to convince his followers that God had commanded the conversion, but few believed him. “The movement that he had inspired collapsed, burying the hopes of tens of thousands of credulous contemporaries.” Zevi was banished to Montenegro where he died, destitute and forgotten, in 1676.

All very fascinating, but what does this have to do with the Little Ice Age? Nothing that I can see, and that’s the reason for my disappointment with the book. It does not live up to its subtitle: “How the Little Ice Age of the Long Seventeenth Century Transformed the West and Shaped Its Present.” Now that’s a thesis, but one that requires evidence, evidence that is not provided. Toward the end of the book, Blom writes, “The peak of the climate episode we know as the Little Ice Age coincides with massive changes in European societies.” However, coincidence is not causation. Although the subtitle claims that climate change itself transformed the West, the claim Blom makes in the last chapter is a weaker one: “… the crisis of agriculture following environmental cooling accelerated a social and economic dynamism carried by a rising middle class, by stronger trade, empirical knowledge, expanding literacy, growing markets, and intellectual renewal. The result was a move from feudal to capitalist societies, from the fortress to the market.” But just how much of this move was spurred by climate change, and how much to other forces? Blom is content simply to assert the importance of climate change to all these social trends without carefully building a case for it. Certainly, simply to say that there was a long period of bitter cold, and then all these things happened is not to show causation.

One very interesting fact about the Little Ice Age, about which I knew virtually nothing (were we even taught about it in high school?), is that, to this day, scientists do not really know what caused it, though it seems to be correlated with a diminishment of sun spots. Historians do know that it lasted for about a hundred years and had devastating effects. The book documents these effects wonderfully well, using paintings as well as historical sources. Why not just stick to what happened, and not claim that the Little Ice Age transformed Western Europe? Perhaps to make the book more relevant to today?

[Karel Alleene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Afgelopen weekend verscheen in De Morgen een artikel over de electorale kloof tussen platteland en stad, waarin verwezen werd naar 'Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd' van Geert Mak. Net zoals Mak schrijft Philipp Blom goed gedocumenteerde en uiterst toegankelijke boeken die de lezer toelaten met een andere, ruimere blik de actualiteit te benaderen.

Nu we de laatste decennia eindelijk lijken te beseffen dat er verband bestaat tussen mens en klimaat, levert dat nogal wat ideologische discussies op over punten en komma's. Een enkeling daar gelaten, twijfelt niemand aan de naakte, harde cijfers die de wetenschap ons aanleverde. Maar hoe reageerde de maatschappij tijdens de kleine ijstijd in de zestiende eeuw? In een periode waarin wetenschap in de kinderschoenen stond en mensen leefden van oogst tot oogst? Over dat tijdsgewricht schreef Blom een compact boek dat er toch in slaagt een wereld in beeld te brengen die aanvoelt als een embryonale versie van onze samenleving.

Graanprijzen stegen tussen 1560 en 1600 met 500 %, logisch dat een mens op zoek gaat naar verklaringen . Die werden gezocht in de religie: officiële interpretatie van natuurverschijnselen lag in de handen van theologen. Terwijl men heksen beschuldigde van grote muizenplagen die het graan vernielden, schreef Montaigne zijn essays in Bordeaux en ontpopte Carolus Clusius zich in Leiden als de grootste botanische expert van zijn tijd. Alle twee schraagden ze hun bevindingen op observaties, niet op eventuele bovennatuurlijke oorzaken.

De sterkte van dit werk is terug te vinden in de onwrikbare logica waarmee Blom zijn verhaal opbouwt. Via het verhaal van botanicus Clusius bekomt de lezer een portret van de universiteitsstad Leiden in volle expansie, waarin ene Rembrandt rondwandelt als zoon van een molenaar. Een aantal hoofdstukken later zie je hoe de kennis uit Leiden aangewend wordt door prins Maurits van Oranje om nieuwe vuurwapens te produceren, waarmee hij loop van de Dertigjarige Oorlog beslist. Waarna de financiering van oorlogen het meest urgente probleem van elke regering werd en de staten vervelden tot de kapitaalmachines die we nu kennen. Wanneer je dergelijke complexe materie terug kunt brengen tot een behapbaar en vlot leesbaar boek, heb je je werk goed gedaan.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nach der Lektüre bin ich ein wenig zwiegespalten.

Während ich den Beginn des Buches aufgrund der scheinbar zusammenhangslos aufgezählten Episoden und Themen als eher langweilig empfand, so änderte sich dies im zweiten Teil recht deutlich, nachdem endlich ein roter Faden sichtbar wird und die scheinbar zusammenhangslosen Themen einen Sinn ergeben, vor allem im Zusammenhang mit dem übergeordneten Thema der klimatischen Veränderungen.

Leider geht dieser rote Faden dann in der zweiten Hälfte des Buches wieder etwas verloren, sodass am Ende zwar eine sehr interessante und gut geschriebene Übersicht über die Veränderungen im 17. Jahrhundert und darüber hinaus aufgezeigt werden und vor allem der Übergang vom religiös durchzogenen Alltag hin zum Aufstieg der Wissenschaften und der neu entstandenen Gesellschaftsordnungen in den Städten gut dokumentiert ist, so wird der Zusammenhang mit dem Klimawandel hier nicht wirklich ersichtlich. Klar, die Ursprünge basieren noch auf den Veränderungen gegen Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts, aber dem Autor gelingt es leider nicht den Einfluss der klimatischen Veränderungen als roten Faden beizubehalten.

Sehr lesenswert ist noch der Epilog, in dem der Autor versucht, auf die oft vernachlässigten Schattenseiten der damals entstandenen und bis heute andauernden Entwicklungen der Aufklärung einzugehen und diese in die Gegenwart zu holen. Der Autor macht so den durchaus vorhandenen Opportunismus etwa am Beispiel Voltaires sichtbar, die eingegangenen Kompromisse zwischen der aufstrebenden Mittelschicht und dem Klerus und Adel; Kompromisse, die sich bis heute auswirken, wie etwa das offensichtliche Eintreten von Menschenrechten westlicher Staaten, aber nur solange die eigenen Interessen gewahrt bleiben. Damit wird vor allem der Interessenkonflikt verschiedener gesellschaftlicher Schichten sichtbar. Hier wird dann noch einmal der Sprung zum aktuellen Klimawandel gemacht, der zwar unaufhaltsam ist, bei dem sich aber dennoch die Frage stellt wie wir damit umgehen werden.

Insgesamt also von mir vier Sterne, aufgrund der guten Lesbarkeit, der Fülle an Informationen und der herangezogenen Quellen — Tagebuchaufzeichnungen ebenso wie statistisches Material sowie der doch recht konsequent durchgehaltenen Konzentration auf Europa und wichtige Zentren während dieser Zeit. Für interessierte Laien und Nicht-Experten sicherlich gut lesbar, Leser mit historischem Überblick über diese Epoche werden jedoch vermutlich nicht allzuviel Neues mitbekommen.

Beschlossen werden soll diese Rezension mit den Worten des Autors aus dem Epilog:

„Nach dem Verlust einer impliziten religiösen Ordnung (ein Verlust, der sich in der Leidenschaft niederschlägt, die Herrscher und ihre Porträtisten während des Barocks für Allegorien an den Tag legten) haben Gesellschaften mit verschiedenen neuen Arten von Transzendenz experimentiert: das Vaterland, der Fortschritt, der Weltgeist, die Vorsehung, das Paradies der Bauern und Arbeiter, der Triumph der Herrenrasse, der perfekte Markt. Sie alle haben gemein, dass sie nicht Tatsachen, sondern Glaubensinhalte beschreiben, ein Ordnungsprinzip, das die Welt lesbar macht und Handlungen einen Sinn geben kann.
Trotz unserer reichen und häufig auch traumatischen Erfahrungen und obwohl wir so viele Visionen haben kollabieren sehen, sind wir wenig über die Träume des 17. Jahrhunderts hinausgekommen: Die Freiheit universeller Menschenrechte, die Freiheit von Völkern und Nationen und die Freiheit des Marktes treiben die politischen Träume unserer Gegenwart an, wie von Spinoza und Pierre Bayle, Thomas Mun und Bernard Mandeville beschrieben.“

[Ubik 2.0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

L’inverno sta arrivando

Nella scelta del periodico appuntamento con un saggio storico mi sono fatto un po’ incautamente attirare da questo titolo rammentando, da vaghi ricordi scolastici, come fra il XVI° e il XVII° secolo il mondo fosse stato attraversato da un’intensa e prolungata ondata di gelo passata alla storia con la definizione di “Piccola Glaciazione”.

A partire da questo evento, le cui cause sono ancora controverse ma molte delle conseguenze risultano ben documentate, l’autore del saggio si propone di spiegare ”come si trasforma una societa’ quando cambia il clima in cui vive e quali sono le ricadute dirette e indirette del mutato contesto naturale sulla sua cultura e sul suo orizzonte emotivo e intellettuale”, solleticando irresistibilmente la mia curiosità anche tramite la riproduzione del magnifico, famoso e coevo “Cacciatori nella neve” di Pieter Bruegel il Vecchio, raffigurato nelle prime pagine del testo.

Attraverso diari, lettere, osservazioni naturalistiche, opere letterarie, registri di vendemmie, inventari di mercanti, diari di bordo, sermoni, dipinti, libri mastri, Philip Blom trae innumerevoli fonti per ricostruire un quadro esauriente dell’epoca con una visione, per così dire, dal basso cioè dalla vita della gente comune.

Fino a quell’epoca l’interpretazione ufficiale dei fenomeni naturali era monopolizzata dai teologi, che nelle comete, nei terremoti e nelle inondazioni, così come nei cattivi raccolti causati dalle stagioni inclementi vedevano all’opera la giustizia divina in un nesso che legava il cambiamento climatico al degrado dei costumi.

Frattanto, a partire da alcune università più illuminate comincia a farsi strada lo studio delle scienze naturali e delle discipline filosofiche a scapito della teologia e del diritto, con un contrasto emergente tra il pensiero razionale e scientifico e il dogmatismo. Fino alla vera e propria crisi intellettuale del XVII secolo, quando, per la prima volta, si tenta di dare una risposta non teologica ai grandi interrogativi, senza rimandi alla dimensione della trascendenza, mentre di pari passo si impongono nuove tecniche colturali e nuovi prodotti importati dalle colonie di oltremare. I protagonisti di quella crisi intellettuale provengono dalla classe media, terreno di coltura di tutte le maggiori novità dell’epoca così che una generazione di pionieri intellettuali ha iniziato a scorporare il concetto di natura da quello di creato.

Materia dunque particolarmente affascinante: peccato che, verso la metà del saggio, Blom sembri smarrire il proprio iniziale intento, dilungandosi in un excursus sui massimi pensatori e filosofi dell’epoca, da Cartesio a Spinoza a Voltaire ed altri minori, abbandonando quasi del tutto ogni legame con l’assunto di partenza e appesantendo a dismisura il libro o quanto meno l’originale assetto di saggio storico per trasformarlo in un ordinario manuale di filosofia dell’epoca.

[heptagrammaton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dilute, sometimes repetitive, lacking in connective tissue and a rigorous interest in causality. A review article in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History by climate and political historian S. White is altogether scathing about it (as scathing as academic reviews usually can go, anyway.)

Interesting enough as a casual read and on occasion Blom's analysis of art artefacts can be illuminating, but it spends altogether too little time on the Little Ice Age, and how it shaped the material organisation and culture of the West; the erosion of the feudal medieval order, the birth of capitalism and the modern political state which upheld it, the remaking of basic agricultural relation, the rise of individual liberalism and philosophical individualism, etc. are unseparable from the broader economic and political forces which the Age of Exploration unleashed upon the world before the time when wine was no longer grown in England. The culture (and progress ('progress')) of Western Europe - is Blom's predominant interest, but the cultural history he has written is altogether too much of a culture: this culture, with its fetish science and justifying narratives of empiricism, of rationalism, of pure ideas and a pure natural philosophy. Blom strikes true when he speaks of the continuity with Christian thought into modernity, the retained theological heart of much of our thinking, but his history (nevermind genealogy) of ideas stops too short. He walks in ass first in a room, narrowly avoids tripping over the threshold, and sits his ass on the floor: lo, a good enough chair. Our obsession with information and pure abstracted ideas, which is based in dualism, carries over in this analysis which represent technological innovation as a matter of ideas first: as if subsistence farming wouldn't have persisted - as it still persists - with the mere knowledge of crop rotation and the importance of manure.

Not that Blom is unaware of the contradictions between ideology and lived reality, of the granularity. Yet his history does become too smooth in writing, diluted, the granularity of history dissolved into platitudes. It takes him to the epilogue for him to acknowledge most of the intersecting complications of early modernity and say the word 'capitalism'.

The impetus for Nature's Mutiny was out modern climate crisis and looking to understand it. This is an understandable, tempting approach to writing history, but I don't think it's a fruitful one. It's far too easy to forget the particularities of the past, to make it about us, to project teleologies.

It is not about you.

It is not about now.

It is not about us.

The bees swarm not for you. They are not your metaphor. They are not your ethical objects. They are.

[Susan in NC · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for what read, to me, more like a text for a general survey history class, or freshman philosophy class (that’s a looong time ago for me, but reminded me of my Introduction to Philosophy class).

Very well-written, but after the first general section with interesting vignettes about the harsh winters, wet summers - Frost Fairs were fun, but the crop failures, subsequent starvation, disease, etc. further weakened populations decimated by long-term conflicts like the 30 Years War - the author dives into developments among philosophers that lead to the empirical method, and eventually the Enlightenment.

Europeans of all classes began to question the social structures that had held for millennia, peasants to aristocrats born into their God-given place, eventually leading to widespread agricultural, technological, philosophical, economic and social changes. Some reviewers said the author really diverges from the Little Ice Age main theme into philosophical rabbit holes. I found it interesting, for the most part, and a good refresher on 17th-century European history that lead to the age of colonial exploration, for better or worse (including slavery, exploitation of nature and native peoples), mercantilism, the Enlightenment, etc.

Yes, quite wide-ranging, but in fairness, he lays out his outline clearly in the first section, and the title is How the Little Ice Age...Transformed the West and Shaped the Present, so I knew going in this would be his take on the cascading effects of harsh weather upon existing social structures. In the last section, he synthesized his theories, drawing the various threads together.

My takeaway was that as humans in the 17th century (and mini-climate change periods since then), were forced to abandon the status quo, and adapt to new technologies, crops, beliefs, ways of life, etc. to survive, we have to be prepared to be flexible and creative as we deal with climate change today. The same old, same old doesn’t work when societies face crises, whether it’s climate, war, pandemic; I found this especially timely right now, after a pandemic year, and as we face ongoing crises. I thought the book valuable as an example of the adaptability of humans when absolutely necessary.

[Edmond Dantes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il Clima influenza solo in nostro umore o molto di più? Se è vero che una giornata di sole ci rallegra e una di pioggia ci intristisce, che effetto possono avere decine di anni piovosi, più freddi del solito, di raccolti scarsi, oltre a fame e miseria in una società pre-industriale?
A Questa e molte altre domande cerca la risposta questo agevole Saggio di Philipp Blom.
La Piccola Glaciazione che colpi l’Europa ed il mondo tra il 1550 e il 1750 quanto influì sulla rivoluzione scientifica, sulla riforma intellettuale (nascita dell’illuminismo), e, in ultima analisi, sulla nascita del nostro concetto di società libera?
Parimenti, il surriscaldamento globale in corso oggi, cosa comporterà per queste stesse libertà? Non sono Forse esse stesse fragili come l’equilibrio climatico della terra stessa?
Lettura agevole, come detto ed altamente raccomandata.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the more interesting things that I've read in a while. The main idea of the book is that the pressures put on society by the Little Ice Age forced Europeans to change their ways and that this is what led to the culture we live in today. Basically, crop failures made self-sufficiency unreliable, which led to peasants moving to urban slums, people became more dependent on long distance trade and money for survival and this encouraged exploitation of workers, colonialism, slavery, international competition, military arms races and extravagant wealth accumulations for the rich. Business required more funding, which encouraged the creation of the first stock markets so that risk could be spread out among share holders, and economic growth became more of a priority so that business owners could stay ahead of their competition. It also made people question their faiths since prayers and the burning of witches proved ineffective against the wrath of nature, leading to more acceptance of scientific ideas.

In some ways these changes were good. When society needs rational problem-solvers and skilled workers it encourages improved education systems. Mercantilism requires different cultures to get along with each other and society therefore becomes more cosmopolitan. Leadership becomes a little more of a meritocracy since "noble birth" doesn't guarantee the right skills to run successful businesses. In other ways, the changes were horrible. Tolerance of trading partners didn't translate into respect for all other cultures. It was just a pragmatic decision about making profit, and in many cases it was obviously more profitable to exploit, pillage and enslave others instead.

I think it's true that the global cooling trend of the 1600s did push European society in this direction but wasn't it already going that way? He makes it sound a little too much like this was a complete U-turn. In my opinion it just sped up a process that was already long underway. Remember, one of the contributors to this cooling trend (although a very small contributor in Blom's opinion) is the genocide of Native Americans and the reforestation of their farmland. The growth of all that biomass sucked up a lot of carbon from the atmosphere. Clearly Europe was already desperate for resources if they were risking their lives traveling all the way across the globe. The history of civilization is nothing but exploitation, war and environmental destruction. Serious large-scale environmental issues were occurring long before the industrial revolution. Corrupt leaders always promoted high population densities because that's where they get their power. Then overpopulation destroys the local land and they become dependent on conquest of other lands. Arms races, and even science experiments, aren't anything totally new. Those on top have always allowed enough rational debate so they could innovate new weapons and tactics to stay ahead of their rivals. Had Blom shown more of an understanding of this I think this would have been a much better book.

This ends better than most other environmental books that I've read recently. Rather than chicken out at the last second and tell us that everything's okay because Liberals will inevitably prevail over climate change deniers and rich sociopaths, he makes it clear that we are in serious trouble. He explicitly labels free market fundamentalism, neoliberalism, materialism and even endless economic growth as problems. He makes it clear that putting our faith in techno-fixes could be a fatal mistake. He doesn't make it clear what exactly he thinks should be done about these problems but just admitting that they are problems still makes this guy braver than most other published writers these days.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

German journalist Philipp Blom sets out to explain the profound effects the Little Ice Age of the 16th – 17th centuries had on European societies and economics, utterly transforming them as people adapted out of necessity to changing conditions. I loved the history in the first part, which connected the dots between climatic events and those adaptations and the resulting shifts from a feudal system to a mercantile one, a Church-controlled world to the one that birthed the Enlightenment, the rise of science, and the development of a more global economy from the local agricultural one of the late Middle Ages.

The middle section slows down as Blom gets a bit into the weeds with details about the writings and beliefs of various 16th and 17th century philosophers, and their fates in their respective eras and environments. Some background in their ideas was necessary, but this section probably could have been scaled back and still achieved that outcome.

The relatively short Epilogue was where this book really shone as Blom brings all the ideas together and skips to the future and our own looming climate crisis. Drawing parallels and noting differences, he notes how the foundational ideas of times past still have connections to some of today’s ideas and assumptions regarding climate change. One important contrast between the situations: The Little Ice Age was temporary and systems were adaptable. Our current crisis is based on a permanent and irreversible degradation of the environment.

Some GR reviewers have complained Blom hasn’t “proved” his theories. I’m not a historian and am unfamiliar with historical method, so I’m not sure what that would look like. He certainly seemed to lay out a reasonable case for various sets of circumstances having strongly influenced subsequent events and the evolution of many institutions and society as a whole. The book is supported by 5 pages of notes and a 21-page bibliography and I found it thought-provoking.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

WSJ and London Times have it right -- this is a good book spoiled by almost random digressions.

[Tilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pmts esimene asi, mis mul jääajaga seoses pähe tuleb, on see, et see oli ammu, jääd oli palju ja mammutid surid ära. Ja ega palju rohkem ei tulegi, väikese jääaja kohta teadsin üksnes seda, et vist oli, kunagi. Raamatu valisin lugemiseks peamiselt põhjusel, et kaanele on kirjutatud, et sisaldab mõtisklusi nüüdisaja kliimast. Ma olen ses suhtes kergelt paniköör, mul on miljon küsimust, loen meediast üha hirmsamaid (ja tihti vastuolulisi) pealkirju, saan aru, et kõik on pekkis, kuid kui pekkis täpselt on (ja miks keegi midagi ei tee), aru ei saa. Tülitan tuttavaid, kes justkui võiksid teada, saan vastuseks umbes, et ära üldse hakkagi – lootust ei ole. Kuivõrd ei ole? Jnpe …

Philipp Blomi raamat minu kliimaküsimustele konkreetseid vastuseid ei anna (kahtlustan, et see pole võimalikki), küll aga suurel hulgal uut teemakohast teadmist ja mõtlemisainet.

Kõige rohkem üllatas mind see, et jääaja (olgu või väikese) tekkeks (ja kaasnevate raamatus kirjeldatud tohutute ühiskondlike muutuste käivitamiseks) piisab sellest, kui kliima jaheneb kahe kraadi võrra Celsiuse järgi. Kõigest kaks kraadi, mitte nt kakskümmend. Just see aastatel 1570 – 1690 Maa põhjapoolkeral juhtus. Blom räägib nimetatud perioodist Euroopas ja ajaloolasena käsitleb peamiselt jääaja (majanduslike, poliitilisi ja kultuurilisi) tagajärgi, mitte tekkepõhjuseid. Nii nagu mina aru saan, väikese jääaja põhjused ei olegi selged ja neid on mitmel põhjusel keeruline uurida. Erinevalt nt lähiajal oodatavast paarikraadisest kliimasoojenemisest, mis on üheselt mõistetavalt inimtekkeline.

Aga algusest peale. 16. sajand, temperatuur on alanenud, Maa seismiline aktiivsus suurenenud, vee jahenemine ookeanis põhjustas süvahoovuste voolusuundade pöördumisi, mis mõjutasid maakoore tektoonikat. Tekkisid maavärinad ning sagedased vulkaanipursked. Vulkaanipursete tagajärjel kogunes Maa atmosfääri tolmu, mis varjutas päikest ning õhutemperatuur langes veelgi. Euroopat tabasid esimesed kärekülmad talved, millele järgnesid vihmased suved, hukatuslikud rahehood ja tormid.

„Kaks kraadi vastab kuuele vegetatsiooniperioodi nädalale – kuuele väärtuslikule nädalale, mille vältel pidi küpsema teravili, viinamarjad, kariloomade talvesööt ja puuviljad. Valmis saagi kuldamise asemel paistis aga ikka ja jälle põldudele, kus vettinud viljapead kõrte otsas määndusid, kõigest tuhm ja jõuetu päike.“ ( lk 18)

„Feodaalses Euroopas oli põllumajandus ja maaomand jõukuse, elu ja kogu ühiskonnastruktuuri alus. Talupojad elatusid maast, end aadel talupoegadest. Manufaktuurid ning ennekõike teraviljale, veinile, heeringatele, kangastele ja luksuskaupadele spetsialiseerunud kaubandus mängis kõrvalist rolli.“ (lk 19 – 20)

Kriis algas toidunappusest maapiirkondades. Põllumajandussaak ikaldus, inimesed ja loomad jäid nälga. Alepõllumajandusest ennast enam elatada mitte suutvad talupojad suundusid linna. Talupoegade lahkumise tulemusena vaesusid aadlikud. Linnad kasvasid kiiresti, muutusid ülerahvastatuks. Kuna maalt põllumajandussaadusi linna enam ei jagunud, oli ka linnas nälg. Tööpuudus, inimesed hakkasid mässama. Mida aeg edasi, seda rohkem. Kodusõjad, rahvusvahelised sõjalised konfliktid. Üks või mitu korraga. Kõige rohkem kannatasid muidugi lihtinimesed. Surid lisaks näljale ja sõdadele ka linnades vohavatesse haigustesse, mis võtsid tihti epideemia mõõtmed..

Blom annab päris hea ülevaate, kuidas inimesed, olles märganud, et elu muutub üha kehvemaks, seda endale või üksteisele seletasid. Kuna kirjaoskus oli juba levinud, on see suhteliselt hästi dokumenteeritud aja periood. Raamatus on ära toodud katkendid erinevatest päevikutest, kirjadest ja muudest kirjatöödest. Päris palju infot sisaldavad erinevad arveraamatud ja põllupidajate märkmed. Nt viinamarjakasvatajad on väga detailselt ülestähendanud, kes, kus, ja millal täpselt saaki koristas ning kuidas see veini kvaliteedis peegeldus. Muu hulgas märgib Blom, kuidas külmaperiood jäädvustus kunstis ja kirjanduses (Shakespeare). Maalikunstis tekkis Blomi arvates lausa omaette žanr, nn talvemaastik (Hendrick Avercamp, Pieter Bruegel).

Inimesed soovisid mõistmist ja abi ning suunasid oma pilgud eelkõige muidugi Jumala poole. See oli religiooni suuraeg. Igat sorti preestrid kutsusid üles palvetama ja meelt parandama, kuid ega sellest ei piisanud. Eelkõige oli vaja leida süüdlased e patused, algasid piinamised ja põletamisega päädiv nõiajaht. Nõiad muidugi leiti. Põletati palju ja innukalt, koguneti erinevateks tseremooniateks, paralleelselt said hoo sisse ka igat sorti uhuutajad, kuid abi ei paistnud kusagilt. Jumal ei kuulnud või ei viitsinud. Ja aega läks, aga isegi nii rumal loom, nagu inimene, hakkas lõpuks taipama, ellu jäämiseks tuleb hakata kohanema. Ja umbes sealt maalt hakkaski pihta see, mida Blom nimetab „tänapäeva maailma tekkimiseks“.

Nii nagu vanasti asjad enam ei toiminud, religiooni tähtsus vähenes, inimesed, olles Jumalas pettunud, pöörasid oma silmad õpetlaste poole. Küll, nagu mina aru saan, (keskaja lõpp – valgustusajastu algus), mõisted „õpetlane“ ja „usutegelane“ kattusid suuresti, kuid mitte täielikult ja parem juba empiiriliste vaatluste ja ateistlike argumentideni jõudnud usutegelane kui üldse mitte keegi.

Ühesõnaga algas suur maailma ja keskkonna ümbermõtestamine ja ümberkujundamine.

Üks suurimaid muutusi, mille Blomi arvates põhjustas väike jääaeg Euroopas, oli üleminek feodaalkorralt turumajandusele. Lisaks hakkas arenema (Hollandis eelkõige) rahvusvaheline kaubavahetus. Tõusis erinevate tööstuste osakaal ja see kõik tekitas vajaduse haritud inimese järele. Mis loomulikult edendas kirjaoskuse ja hariduse levikut üldisemalt. See omakorda soodustas trükisõna levikut, jne, jne. Sealt edasi aga igat sorti uued ideed, mh erinevate vabaduste ja humanismi suunas üldisemalt. Eks kõik ikka üle kivide ja kändude, kaks sammu edasi, üks tagasi ja jälle veidi edasi. Olla filosoofi või vabamõtleja oli tol ajal suhteliselt ebamugav, mõneti isegi eluohtlik. Lisaks, idee on üks asi, ja reaalsed sammud uuenduste suunas ikkagi hoopis teine. Näitena esitleb Blom Voltaire, kes võitles kogu hingest humanistlike väärtuste ees olles samal ajal kirglik rassist ja orjapidaja …

Lisaks Volaire´ile räägib Blom oma raamatust veel sellistest meestest nagu John Dee, Giordano Bruno, Carolus Clusius, Descartes, Athanasius Kircher, Pierre Bayle, Spinoza, John Locke, Jan Pieterszoon Coen jpt.

Autori epiloog keskendub tänapäeva maailmale ja hetkel toimuvale kliimamuutusele ning on murelik, tema tulevikustsenaarium on must. Selge on see, et kliimamuutused muudavad ühiskonnakorraldus, Blom kahtleb, kas inimkond taipab õigeaegselt ja suudab olla piisavalt ettenägelik säilitamaks kõikvõimalike liberaalsusi ning isegi demokraatiat. Ütleb, et vaatamata sellele, et oleme intellektuaalses plaanis hoopis valgustatumad kui keskaja inimesed, käitume täpselt nagu keskaja inimesed. Taunime kliimamuutust, kuid oma kasumit ohverdada ei suuda. Räägime ja räägime kuid tegutseme pigem sümboolselt, keskendume pisiasjadele. Me teame, mida tegema peame, kuid kasuahnusest tulenevalt reaalseid samme ette ei võta. Ütleb, et Voltaire oleks meist aru saanud.

Selles raamatul on puudusi. Blom on kirjutanud midagi sarnast, mis juhtuks siis, kui keegi võtaks kätte kirjutada essee „Armastus ja surm maailma kirjanduses“. Ta on üritanud 300 lk ära mahutada teemad nagu muutused majanduses, sõjapidamises, loodusteadustes, humanitaarteadustes, kujutavad kunstis, kirjanduses, filosoofias ja kindlasti veel milleski. Hea, et piiras end vähemalt ajaperioodi ja geograafiagi osas. Lisaks, ta, eriti raamatu lõpu poole, vajub teemast välja, käsitletud teemade seosed väikese jääajaga muutuvad üha kaudsemateks ja kohati ehk pole üldsegi hoomatavad. Vähemalt mulle tundub küll pisut kahtlane, et kõik mis juhtus, juhtus nimelt väikese jääaja tõttu, eriti, mis intellektuaalset ajalugu puudutab. Samas, mind see ei häirinud. Blom on pühendunud, erudeeritud ja sõbralik jutuvestja, kes on kogunud kokku muljetavaldava koguse fakte ja tõendeid selle kohta, milline siis elu oli, mis muutusi põhjustas, kuidas asjad kujunesid. Lugesin raamatut kaua, see oli mu öökapiraamat, iga õhtu väike amps. Sõbraga hakkasid juba inside naljad kujunema (- Mida sa täna loed? Oota, ära ütle, ma arvan. V äikesest jääajast?). Aga loetud ta sai, ma sain palju targemaks, mul oli väga huvitav. Kindlasti on see liiga vähe tähelepanu saanud raamat.

[Judith Squires · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book combined two of my interests: history and climate change. It discusses the "Little Ice Age" that afflicted the Northern Hemisphere in the 17th Century. So much suffering and death occurred that many thought it was the End of the World. Blom includes so much about the thinking of religious leaders and leading philosophers of the day. This is a very rich read, containing so much in a relatively short book. I loved reading about how many of the most interesting minds of the day, including the fascinating Dr. Dee, the amazing Rene Decartes, and my favorite, Blaise Pascal, reacted. Highly recommended.

[Alessandro Nicolai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trata un tema interessante ma lo fa perdendosi e andando fuori tema col risultato che a volte scade nella noia, in generale peró è una lettura veloce e con spunti piacevoli

[Anneliese Tirry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dit boek handelt over een vorige klimaatsverandering, over de kleine ijstijd in de 16e en 17e eeuw en hoe de samenleving hier totaal anders uit kwam.
Dit was zo op alle gebied: op gebied van handel drijven, op gebied van migratie, de opkomst van de middenklasse, de slavernij, maar ook alfabetisering, verandering van het godsbeeld, de filosofie.
Het boek is zeer interessant, maar ook vaak een moeilijke noot om kraken. Lange hoofdstukken over economie en filosofie maken dit geen easy read. Maar het boek is wel verhelderend en interessant.
Ik vrees dat de slinger nu naar de andere kant is doorgeslagen, alles wordt opgeofferd in naam van de winst, ook de toekomst van wie na ons komt. Zoals de auteur zelf in het boek schrijft: "We reageren op de klimaatverandering amper efficiënter dan onze voorvaderen, die haar niet begrepen: chaotisch, improviserend, gedreven door steeds meer catastrofale gebeurtenissen en steeds maar weer beheerst door het heilige doel op korte termijn onze economie te doen groeien en onze welvaart te behouden. ...
... Nu stuit de uitputting van de natuurlijke hulpbronnen op haar grenzen of heeft die allang overschreden. De ecologische kosten en risico's van de productie en begunstiging van de fossiele energie en grondstoffen stijgen exponentieel, de slachtoffers van de opwarming van de aarde zijn gedwongen de regio waar ze vandaan komen te verlaten. We lopen concreet gevaar de planeet zo te veranderen dat wij en andere soorten er niet meer op kunnen leven. Groei door uitbuiting, het antwoord op de laatste klimaatcrisis in onze samenlevingen, is een existentiële bedreiging geworden."

[Kristi Thielen · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I ultimately found this book engrossing, it took time to adjust my understanding of the author’s intent. I had expected a book that dealt more with meteorological changes of the Little Ice Age and how these scientific forces impacted a broad spectrum of life.

Instead, Philipp Blom tells an interior story: how the life of the mind was altered by the Little Ice Age; the observations of several significant thinkers; and how their philosophical ideas impacted the world they lived in.

This makes the book a different although richer study of the time, but also makes it a more demanding read. Blom focuses on western Europe and explains how The Little Ice Ace shook belief in God and established religion and led to questioning humanity’s role in the world. It also led to an “opening” of European society, especially in the Netherlands where fresh ideas took place more freely.

In the 17th century, European societies moved from a time when life was about building a fortress to surround and protect your society, to a time when life – and success – was about building a market where people, material goods and ideas circulated freely.

We still live in this “market” world today and it has brought us great good but also stress and inequality.

Today we face not a Little Ice Age, but global warming. How will this impact our “market” world and what adaptations must we make to move confidently and successfully into the future?

[Jordy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toch niet helemaal wat ik ervan had verwacht. De titel en flaptekst suggereren dat het een werk is vanuit het relatief nieuwe onderzoeksveld van environmental history, maar dat beslaat slechts een klein deel van het boek. Waar het boek daadwerkelijk om gaat, is de lange 17e eeuw.

Milieu en klimaat vormen voor de schrijver slechts een ingang in de 17e eeuw, van waaruit hij processen laat beginnen of eindigen. Er wordt vooral filosofisch gedachtegoed behandelt en de schrijver probeert de hypocrisie van de verlichting naar boven te halen, om de lezer uiteindelijk duidelijk te maken dat democratie een relatief modern concept is.

Dit doet de schrijver wel op een fenomenale manier; de opkomende wetenschappelijke methoden van Francis Bacon en René Descartes worden uiteen gezet op toegankelijke wijze. Er worden schilderijen ontleedt uit de tijdsperiode en de levens van personen zijn scherp uiteen gezet, waardoor het vage begrip 'verlichting' meer betekenis krijgt voor de lezer.

Voor wie een verdiepend inzicht wil krijgen in de verlichting, is dit een redelijk goed boek. Voor wie op zoek is naar een systematische analyse van de kleine ijstijd, is dit een minder goed boek.

[Jonas Goossenaerts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over hoe maatschappijen goed of minder goed kunnen reageren op mondiale veranderingen. Ontzettend relevant. Een historicus die zich op het gladde ijs van het hedendaagse maatschappelijke debat begeeft. Knap!

[Delphine · Rating 2 out of 5]

De verwachtingen werden niet ingelost. Alleen tijdens het eerste deel komt de kleine ijstijd specifiek (en concreet) aan bod. De rest van het boek is één grote reflectie over vrijheid en groei, er worden ook portretten geschetst van belangrijke denkers uit de zeventiende eeuw (Spinoza, Locke). De link met de klimaatverandering is niet altijd even duidelijk. Het boek is bovendien vertaald in schabouwelijk Nederlands, met ellenlange constructies en uitweidingen. Jammer!

[Bill Sleeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nature’s Mutiny: How the Little Ice Age of the Long Seventeenth Century Transformed the West and Shaped the Present by Philipp Blom – I started this expecting more climate change and less social and intellectual change – but it turned out that the two are closely allied as author Blom demonstrates this thoughtful and well researched and documented work. What I found most interesting and so very discouraging is how similar the reactions of our present age mirrors in many ways the experience of those living through the Little Ice Age.


The baneful influence of the weather produced strong societal effects. Violent protests increased as grain prices rose [due to diminished growing capacity]. There is a clear correlation between the years with extreme weather and riots and rebellions, and in this especially pronounced in years when the harvest was poor. … in the years from 1585 to 1660 alone, more than seventy such uprisings are documented.” P. 36-37.

But unlike the natural causes that precipitated, but are not the only factor, in the Little Ice Age, Blom illustrates that our current situation is wholly manmade and unlikely to be resolved through the reversal of natural climate phenomena. We have no way to put the damage we have caused behind us – we can only try to change our future. Unlike the early scientific thinkers of the seventeenth century, today’s climate scientists can make evidence-based and detailed projections of climate developments….as the changes manifest themselves around the plant-from single-cell organisms to the stratosphere.

This is a scary book – and it is worth the time and effort to read. I recommend it highly.

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are basically two ways to approach this book, which is essentially an extended essay. On one hand, you can treat it as a potted history of how the Little Ice Age of the subtitle was a hammer that broke the Medieval mindset and opened the way to the Enlightenment and market values that, twenty or so years ago, seemed to represent the "end of history." However, Blom (who wrote this book as a way of understanding how societies respond to global climate changes), suggests that our much-celebrated market and rationalist values should be understood as a very manicured version of the intellectual ferment of the "long" seventeenth century, and that the way forward is going to depend on setting aside cultural triumphalism and engaging in some hard-headed engagement with the world as it is. This would entail, at the very least, a more modest understanding of our personal place in the world. Otherwise Humanity would seem to be in store for another war of all against all.

Originally written: July 2, 2019

[Paleoanthro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Placing a strict emphasis on Europe, due to the authors familiarity with the region, Blom examines how the Little Ice Age effected European culture, resulting in changes that allowed Europeans to survive the changes brought about by climate. We see how Europe moved from a more faith-based explanation to the cold, to a more scientific view that the change is part of nature. Areas where the culture allowed the influx of new crops, ideas, and technologies, helped shaped how Europeans adapted and, ultimately flourished, despite the harsh conditions the change in climate brought. This is a very interesting read to see how humans adapted to the changing environment and how we should be caution that those changes, that led to today's modern society, may not be the best answer to solve the changes we see today. It may take another evolution in cultural attitudes to help shape our current responses to global warming and the changing environment.

[Triinu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minu arvamuse leiab blogist https://triinuraamatud.wordpress.com/...

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, providing a focused history of the “little ice age” and especially its influences on historic events in Europe and the course of western philosophic thought during the long 17th Century. The author dives right into the physical effects of the temperature drop on the European population and how the various cultures adapted to the changes. Detailed accounts of changing patterns of agriculture, shifts in commercial structures, and modifications to the political architectures are provided. The author makes a good point that, though unique individual events corresponding to outlier environments were well documented (such as the freezing of rivers or mass ruined harvests), the large changes made by human societies seeking to adapt over the long term are only noticeable in retrospect. For those living in this period the only experience was a slow and imperceptible movement away from the norms which had existed before. Being a German author there is, of course, amended onto the historical narrative a detailed study on how these changes in the various cultures and organizations caused by the weather in turn influenced the outpouring of philosophic thought which defines the long 17th Century. The thesis that the grand thinkers of that era (Hobbes, Descartes, Newton, amongst many others) were indirectly influenced by the powerful effects of the little ice age is well made. All in all this a healthy, if very academic, study of how humans are able to adapt to changing weather conditions, though not without having to overcome significant challenges and change deeply ingrained patterns of life. Recommended for those wanting to know more about the little ice age and the development of 17th Century philosophic thought.

[Ondrej Urban · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philipp Blom directly mentions the excellent The Swerve: How the World Became Modern exactly once in the main text of the book and it's painfully obvious that these two stories are closely related. Even though chronologically Nature's Mutiny precedes the other one, it's probably good to read The Swerve first and look at the Nature's Mutiny as a prequel - but that's just my opinion.

Nature's Mutiny is about (probably) the sun having a short hiccup and it changing the European society (that the book focuses on, mostly in the Netherlands) to a huge degree, which kind of puts things into perspective. Admittedly, the direct connection is heavily presumed rather than proven, and due to big digressions the effect of the short-term climate change sometimes needs to be a bit painfully shoehorned back into the narrative. But once one steps away from focusing on the climate too much, looking at it more like an invisible prime mover, the book is about a helicopter view of a history of an era when the middle class started to emerge. Alongside, people's preferences and interests started changing, which then might have led to the intellectual changes that gave rise to the Enlightenment.

Nature's Mutiny is maybe too short for its own good and I would have preferred spending more time exploring the history not from the point of view of rulers and battles but the development of philosophy, science and thinking in general. It's a rare treat, this one!