The Earth Transformed: An Untold History
by Peter Frankopan
The Earth Transformed is by Peter Frankopan, a professor of global history at the University of Oxford and a specialist on Byzantium. However, in The Earth Transformed he tells the story not of political dynasties and wars but of the world’s climate. Frankopan is a nice writer so this is a good way to get up to speed on the world’s climate history, though it is long—650 or so pages—so it’s more compendium of information than quick summary.
Recommendations from our site
“History as learned at school is traditionally national history, taught to create good, patriotic citizens, not understand the story of humanity. Peter Frankopan is a professor of global history at the University of Oxford who already took a much broader approach in his bestselling book, The Silk Roads. His latest, The Earth Transformed: An Untold History, takes an even wider approach, telling the whole of human history through the lens of the natural world. As you would expect from a book that covers several millennia, The Earth Transformed is long (650 pages), but Frankopan is an excellent writer so it’s easy to read. You can dip into the chapters and periods that particularly interest you (e.g. The Medieval Warm Period c900-c1250). Not surprisingly, given it’s about climate change (past, not future), science inevitably plays a big role in the book. As you’re reading it, Frankopan makes you aware of how much advances in science (including data science) can contribute to understanding history in general.” Read more...
Notable Nonfiction of Early 2023
Sophie Roell, Journalist
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