Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-275) and index.

This volume examines the social effects of El Niño and other powerful weather phenomena. The author provides examples of how cultures have adapted to stressful weather and the ways in which climatic alterations have changed the course of history. From droughts in ancient Egypt to monsoons in India, the far-reaching effects of meteorology's tantrums have deeply affected the way humans live in the world. He explains El Niños "discovery" and includes useful maps and diagrams and simple and historical treatments of topics such as monsoons, ENSO, and the North Atlantic Oscillation.

In this dazzlingly original new book, archaeologist Brian Fagan shows that short-term climate shifts have been a major--and hitherto unrecogonized--force in history. El Nino-driven droughts have brought on the collapse of dynasties in Egypt; El Nino monsoon failures have caused historic famines in India; and El Nino floods have destroyed whole civilizations in Peru. Other short-term climate changes may have caused the mysterious abandonment of the Anasizi dwellings of the American Southwest and the collapse of the ancient Maya empire, as well as changed the course of European history.

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