World Without End?: Environmental Disaster and the Collapse of Empires - Couverture rigide

Whyte, Ian

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1845110552 ISBN 13 : 9781845110550

Editeur : I.B. Tauris, 2008

Synopsis

When the Aegean island of Thera was blown apart in the Bronze Age by a volcanic explosion larger than that of Krakatoa the scale of the disaster was so great some believe it to have inspired the legend of Atlantis. When the conquistadors arrived in central America they found the civilization of the Maya - one of the most advanced societies of the ancient world, with a population of around 15 million at its peak - reduced to a few hundred thousand. What had happened? At the end of the Pleistocene period more than two-thirds of the large mammal species of North America disappeared within a period of five hundred years. Why?The author shows how environmental historians are piecing together evidence from a wide range of sources to build up a picture of what happened to these past societies and how they coped - or did not - with major episodes of climatic change and natural disaster. At a time when we are more than ever conscious of the detrimental effect we have had upon the environment. "World Without End?" provides a salutary tale for our continuing survival.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Ian D. Whyte is Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Lancaster. He is the author of many books including Landscape and History since 1500 (Reaktion 2002)

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: I.B. Tauris
• Date d'édition: 2008
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1845110552
• ISBN 13: 9781845110550
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 260
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
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