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Everybody knows the Dark Ages weren't really dark, right? Not so fast, counters archaeological journalist David Keys, maybe it's more than just a slightly judgmental metaphor. His book Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World, based on years of careful research spanning five continents, argues that sometime in A.D. 535, a worldwide disaster struck and uprooted nearly every culture then extant. Given contemporary reports of the sun being blotted out or weakened for nearly a year and a half, followed by famine, drought, and plague, it's hard not to think that so many reports from all over the world must be related.
Keys shows a keen grasp of both the written historical record from Asia, Africa, and Europe and the archaeological evidence from the Americas, and tells many tales of great havoc destroying old empires and laying the ground for new ones. Rome may have fallen, but Spain, England, and France rose in its place, while farther east, Japan and China each unified and gained strength after the chaos. Could an enormous volcanic eruption have had such influence on the world as a whole, and could the same thing happen tomorrow? Catastrophe makes no predictions, but leaves the reader with a new sense of history, nature, and destiny. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
It was a catastrophe without precedent in recorded history: for months on end, starting in A.D. 535, a strange, dusky haze robbed much of the earth of normal sunlight. Crops failed in Asia and the Middle East as global weather patterns radically altered. Bubonic plague, exploding out of Africa, wiped out entire populations in Europe. Flood and drought brought ancient cultures to the brink of collapse. In a matter of decades, the old order died and a new world—essentially the modern world as we know it today—began to emerge.
In this fascinating, groundbreaking, totally accessible book, archaeological journalist David Keys dramatically reconstructs the global chain of revolutions that began in the catastrophe of A.D. 535, then offers a definitive explanation of how and why this cataclysm occurred on that momentous day centuries ago.
The Roman Empire, the greatest power in Europe and the Middle East for centuries, lost half its territory in the century following the catastrophe. During the exact same period, the ancient southern Chinese state, weakened by economic turmoil, succumbed to invaders from the north, and a single unified China was born. Meanwhile, as restless tribes swept down from the central Asian steppes, a new religion known as Islam spread through the Middle East. As Keys demonstrates with compelling originality and authoritative research, these were not isolated upheavals but linked events arising from the same cause and rippling around the world like an enormous tidal wave.
Keys's narrative circles the globe as he identifies the eerie fallout from the months of darkness: unprecedented drought in Central America, a strange yellow dust drifting like snow over eastern Asia, prolonged famine, and the hideous pandemic of the bubonic plague. With a superb command of ancient literatures and historical records, Keys makes hitherto unrecognized connections between the "wasteland" that overspread the British countryside and the fall of the great pyramid-building Teotihuacan civilization in Mexico, between a little-known "Jewish empire" in Eastern Europe and the rise of the Japanese nation-state, between storms in France and pestilence in Ireland.
In the book's final chapters, Keys delves into the mystery at the heart of this global catastrophe: Why did it happen? The answer, at once surprising and definitive, holds chilling implications for our own precarious geopolitical future. Wide-ranging in its scholarship, written with flair and passion, filled with original insights, Catastrophe is a superb synthesis of history, science, and cultural interpretation.
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In A.D. 535-536, a climatic catastrophe occurred. It was of such mammoth proportions, it blotted out much of the heat and light of the sun for eighteen months and resulted -- directly or indirectly -- in climatic chaos, famine, migration, war, and massive political change on every continent. In other words, it altered history.
In this breakthrough examination, British archaeological journalist David Keys traces the identity and roots of this catastrophe -- continent by continent and virtually country by country -- showing how it is directly linked to the development of our modern world. The Plague, the rise of Islam, the fall of the Roman Empire, the movement of Asiatic tribes, the beginnings of the great South American empires -- Keys connects all these events that have previously been considered separate and shows us the far-reaching effects of incidents that first appear only localized. He makes us see history in holistic terms, as an integrated, planet-wide phenomenon.
In this fascinating, impeccably researched, and accessible book, Keys's innovative conclusions demonstrate how closely entwined global events truly are, and prove we must change the way we look at our past -- and thus, our future.
Customer Reviews:
My 100-word book review.......2007-03-28
In Catastrophe, author David Keys builds a convincing case for sudden climate change having occurred in the early 6th century, an abrupt dip in worldwide temperatures that would have had massive long-term consequences for civilisations all over the globe. Results could have included the weakening of the Byzantines, the downfall of Teotihuacan and the rise of Islam. This is a fascinating book, and the author's identification of a super volcano as the culprit is highly plausible. However, I think Keys possibly over-estimates this event as a shaper of our modern world, given the existence of so many other important factors.
A truly fascinating history.......2006-12-14
This is truly one of the most fascinating theories in ancient history. A volcano that shaped the modern world by forcing the migration of the huns, the crop failures in the Middle East that led to the rise of Islam and the start of the barbarian migrations towards Rome. It is almost too hard to summarize but if you believe that climate can change history than this is the book that will provide excellent evidence on that idea. Truly a masterpiece of an idea.
Looking for a catstrophe?.......2006-09-12
How much of human history has been shaped by catastrophic events? This exhaustively researched document seems like a natural place to find the answer. Unfortunately, the author's fascination with lurid details of human torture and dismemberment caused me to put the book down after just 60 blood-soaked pages. It's pretty clear that Mr. Key's interests in history do not run parallel to my own. I also found myself wondering about Key's qualifications as "Archaeological Journalist." I guess there are plenty of people who like reading tabloid-style history, and good luck to them, but I much prefer a calmer and scientific perspective of Derek Ager, in his book "The New Catastrophism, The Importance of the Rare Event in Geological History." -- Auralgo
FORCED CONCLUSIONS?.......2006-03-12
Mr. Key's authoritative research created a unique and new approach to the writing of history. His synthesis of science, culture and history was informative and entertaining. He identifies the volcanic eruption between Sumatra and Java in 535 that led to a climatic disaster that he believes helped create the modern world. He did convince this reader that the "Dark Ages were more literal than figurative." However, many of his historical conclusions were overstated. Chapters 19-29 lacked a depth of evidence and were too speculative. His constant use of words like "undoubtedly" made the reader question if he truly beleived his entire thesis? I concluded that he was at most one third correct, but ended in disagreeing that climate changes "alone" caused the birth of the modern world. I give it 4 stars for effort, but only 3 in its totality.
Interesting, relevant, but sometimes a bit stretched........2005-06-28
For the most part I found this book to be enjoyable, but it seems that Keys attempted in some areas to force his conclusion. Also, the same arguement seemed to be repeated far too often. Although I liked that the evidence of climate change was presented for essentially the entire planet, the conclusions at the end of each civilization were repetitive, simply restating the same thing (although, I suppose that was the point). I began to lose patience about 1/3 way through the book, but was able to persist through the conclusion. Perhaps it would have been better had Keys not spent so much time on minutae of Roman history and decline and had moved through the evidence quicker. The latter chapters on Asian and American experience were a little faster reading, likely due to the lack of minutae, largely due to the lack of records from which Keys could draw on. The final arguement on the causes of so much misfortune was compelling, but also left me feeling like our participation in the environment may all be for naught, since the Yellowstone caldera could explode at any moment, wiping us all out. I could not determine if this book wanted to be a book about climate change, history, or science.
Average customer rating:
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Investigations in Environmental Geology (2nd Edition)
Duncan Foley ,
Garry D. McKenzie , and
Russell O. Utgard
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
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Environmental Geology (8th Edition)
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Environmental Geology
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Introduction to Environmental Geology (4th Edition)
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Natural Disasters
ASIN: 0138570795 |
Book Description
Using a hands-on, inquiry-based, problem-solving approach throughout, this laboratory manual for environmental geology features 27 exercises based on classic and recent case histories and current events topics. Reviews basic geology and math necessary for the labs and lists Internet addresses for supplemental material related to each exercise. Focuses on geologic systems and human interaction with them — e.g., volcanos, earthquakes, landslides, snow avalanches, coastal hazards, river floods — with examples from throughout the United States. Discusses water and soil pollution — e.g., surface-water and ground-water quality, processes, and pollution — with numerous examples from throughout the United States. Illustrates the role that the geosciences play in our life-support system — e.g., groundwater overdraft and saltwater intrusion, energy types, conversions, uses, and options; waste management vs. waste deposit, and total energy and resource flow within a system. Calls for application of basic geological concepts and techniques to regional land-use planning. Considers future trends and global change. For those interested in environmental geology, applied geology, or environmental science.
Book Description
The popularity of geographic information system (GIS) software as a tool in the social and physical sciences is growing rapidly. These three modular investigation guides let even novice users tap the power of ArcView® GIS to explore, manipulate, and analyze large data sets. Carefully designed and class tested, the guides emphasize the visualization, analysis, and multimedia integration capabilities inherent to GIS, while minimizing the need to master a complex software package. Exploring Water Resources make the nuts and bolts of using ArcView® GIS transparent to your students. By focusing on teaching with GIS rather than teaching about it, you can incorporate GIS easily into homework, discussions, or lab sessions. This flexible teaching resource motivates and enables your students to ?learn by doing? as they use a full complement of GIS capabilities. EXPLORING TROPICAL CYCLONES: GIS INVESTIGATIONS FOR THE EARTH SCIENCES complements any introductory course in meteorology, oceanography, physical geography, natural hazards, Earth sciences, atmospheric science, and Earth systems science. The guide leads students through a set of exercises in which they are asked to explore, analyze, and then elaborate on the information extracted from a robust GIS dataset using ArcView®, the dominant GIS software tool in the school and college market. The GIS information has been preprocessed into maps and legends, and some ArcView procedures have been automated so students can focus on the science content. Extensive classroom testing at both the college and high school levels shows that students have little difficulty using the ArcView data sets to perform the exercises.
Book Description
In the late 1920s outside a sleepy remote New Mexico village, prehistory was made. Spear points, found embedded between the ribs of an extinct Ice Age bison at the site of Folsom, finally resolved decades of bitter scientific controversy over whether the first Americans had arrived in the New World in Ice Age times. Although Folsom is justly famous in the history of archaeology for resolving that dispute, for decades little was known of the site except that it was very old. This book for the first time tells the full story of Folsom. David J. Meltzer deftly combines the results of extensive new excavations and laboratory analyses from the late 1990s, with the results of a complete examination and analysis of all the original artifacts and bison remains recovered in the 1920s - now scattered in museums and small towns across the country. Using the latest in archaeological method and technique, and bringing in data from geology and paleoecology, this interdisciplinary study provides a comprehensive look at the adaptations and environments of the late Ice Age Paleoindian hunters who killed a large herd of bison at this spot, as well as a measure of Folsom's pivotal role in American archaeology.
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Exploring the Dynamic Earth: GIS Investigations for the Earth Sciences, ArcGIS® Edition
Michelle K. Hall ,
C. Scott Walker ,
Anne Huth ,
Robert F. Butler ,
Larry P. Kendall , and
Jeff S. Jenness
Manufacturer: Brooks Cole
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0495115096 |
Book Description
Explore, analyze, and elaborate on information you extract using ArcGIS® software with EXPLORING THE DYNAMIC EARTH: GIS INVESTIGATIONS FOR THE EARTH SCIENCES. This interactive investigation lets you tap the power of the ArcGIS® software to explore, manipulate, and analyze large data sets. This guide emphasizes the visualization, analysis, and multimedia integration capabilities inherent to GIS. The GIS information has been preprocessed into maps and legends, and some procedures have been automated so you can focus on the science content.
Customer Reviews:
learn ArcView.......2005-03-05
You get a quick introduction to using GIS with geographic data. Perhaps the best thing about the book is the exposure you get to ArcView, which is one of the major GIS products out there in the marketplace. The book assumes no prior exposure to GIS. But if you are majoring in any of the earth sciences (geography foremost amongst these), then using GIS has now become a de facto mandatory requirement of your discipline. The book takes much of the mystique and difficulty out of using GIS.
The book's brevity means that it does not go into any topic in detail. Perhaps the authors are planning sequels along these lines?
Book Description
Explore, analyze, and elaborate on information you extract using ArcGIS® software with EXPLORING TROPICAL CYCLONES: GIS INVESTIGATIONS FOR THE EARTH SCIENCES. This interactive guides letsyou tap the power of the ArcGIS® software to explore, manipulate, and analyze large data sets. The guide emphasizes the visualization, analysis, and multimedia integration capabilities inherent to GIS. The GIS information has been preprocessed into maps and legends, and some procedures have been automated so you can focus on the science content.
Book Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1873 edition by Chapman and Hall, London.
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- Digging for the Truth: One Man's Epic Adventure Exploring the World's Greatest Archaeological Mysteries
- Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology (8th Edition)
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