Interesting, but not quite what I thought it would be. Wouldn’t recommend. Oct 2010 ( )

Fagan was my anthropology teacher for an undergraduate anthropology course I had at UCSB. He is an impeccable scientist, a "Cambridge boy," a protege of the Leakeys, an eloquent writer and and a great lecturer who has since retired from teaching. He stays within his discipline in this book, which is his professional duty. However, I know for certain Fagan has a disdain for religious fundamentalism but I do not think he fully understands or appreciates the religious value that climate change predictions (prophecy) has in modern culture. Recent correspondence with him indicate he left UCSB on bad terms over the politics that UCSB was foisting upon him regarding climate change. Fagan also appeared on the John Stewart show to promote this book and his commentary was shut down by Stewart because it didn't fit their climate doom narrative. Fagan is one of the world's leading generalists on how climate change has influenced humanity over thousands of years. Implied by this book is that present climate change is NOT unprecedented as Gore would have you believe but is an important influence in the anthropological record and Fagan backs it all up with data....hence the hostility from the climate change industrial academic complex. ( )

A fascinating look at the Medieval Warming period that includes not only Europe, but just about every part of the world. Fagan presents various examples of how the warming period (which was not a consistent warmth, but a period of cyclical warmth resulting from, among a few things, El Nino/La Nina changes.) The resulting analysis is convincing if not a bit repetative, since most of the areas he describes (Mexico, Peru/Chile, Africa, India & China) all suffer from droughts while Europe and Northern North America flourish (or at least benefit, as in the case of the Norsemen and Inuits who ended up trading with one another).

Mixed in with his clearly presented info on climatology is historical information, all backed by Fagan's years and years of research. He does not limit his focus to just weather or just archeology. He blends many factors together to form his final argument.

Which is essentially that we are fucked if all we do is worry about temperature and not drought.

One thing that did nothing for me was Fagan's attempt, at the start of every chapter, to set the scene. Ultimately, each piece is awash in vagaries and simply sets up a general idea of key features of the civilization/tribe/culture that is about to be discussed. I guess it's an attempt to "liven things up" that I didn't need but others might appreciate. Since I only read 1-2 non-fiction books a year, I was more interested in the analyses.

Edited: to fix misspelling of author's last name. ( )

The Great Warming describes the effect of the period known as the Great Medieval Warming on weather patterns around the world. These changes in climate affected nearly every culture around the world, some in positive ways, but mostly in negative ways. Fagan uses nontechnical prose to discuss these cultural impacts, but manages to convey the depth of recent research in understanding the effects of climate shifts on humans.

Fagan clearly expresses recent ideas and results, but can be a little repetitive at times. This and his lack of depth in discussing research methods are my only complaints about the book. In spite of this, the work was well worth the time spent, and I plan to pick up others Fagan has written - such as The Little Ice Age. ( )