Climate and Society in Europe
- A richly illustrated book on the history of climate change in Europe.
- Two perspectives, one unique book: two leading experts, a historian and a climatologist, co-author a new standard work on climate history.
- An overview of the connection between climatic and social developments over the last 1000 years.
For the first time, a historian and a climatologist with knowledge of climate history have worked closely together to create a unique book, combining climate reconstructions based on documented data in their human-historical context with temporally highly resolved analyses of climate and glaciers.
“Here we can clearly see how changes in climate affected the environment and people of Europe over many centuries, with important lessons for the future. A wonderfully engaging and well-documented account by two of Europe’s leading climate scientists.”
Prof. Dr. Raymond Bradley, Director, Climate System Research Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (USA)
“This unique book provides new fascinating insights into the interaction of past climate and society in Europe. It can be highly recommended to climatologists, historians and geoscientists, but also to students and the broad public.”
Prof. Dr. Rudolf Brázdil, Department of Geography, Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic)
“The authors offer a truly interdisciplinary combination of history and science in order to explore the complex relationships of climate and society over the past millennium. They demonstrate convincingly that climate change is nothing new while at the same time revealing the character of the unprecedented climatic epoch mankind now faces.”
Prof. Dr. Jan de Vries, Professor Emeritus of History and Economics, University of California, Berkeley (USA)
Christian Pfister is Professor Emeritus of Economic, Social and Environmental History at the University of Bern, Switzerland. He was founding president of the European Society for Environmental History (ESEH).
Heinz Wanner is Professor Emeritus of Geography and Climatology. He was co-chair of the international Past Global Changes (PAGES) project and a member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Both scientists work at the renowned Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern.
1. Auflage 2021
397 Seiten, 215 Abb., 4 Tab.
Hardcover, 18 x 24 cm, 1261 g
Haupt Verlag, 06.09.2021
ISBN 978-3-258-08234-9
Christian Pfister
Christian Pfister is Professor Emeritus of Economics, Social and Environmental History at the Univeristiy of Bern. He was founding president of the European Society for Environmental History (ESEH).He works at the renowned Oeschger Centre for Climate Research at the Univerisity of Bern.
Heinz Wanner
Heinz Wanner is Pofessor Emeritus of Geography and Climatology. He was co-chair of the international Past Global Changes (PAGES) project and a member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He works at the renowned Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern.
«Climate and society in Europe is a book that is already an essential milestone in climate historiography for the decades to come.» Laurent Litzenburger, Continuity and Change
«Voilà un ouvrage qui constituera, au même titre que l’Histoire humaine et comparée du climat d’Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, un jalon essentiel de l’historiographie du climat pour les décennies à venir. […] Dans cette évolution historiographique majeure, Christian Pfister est un pionnier qui travaille sur la question depuis le début des années 1980 et qui a contribué à développer des méthodes et des chantiers de recherches très actifs. Il livre ici le résultat de plusieurs décennies de recherches approfondies. Rien que cela suffit à faire de ce livre un classique de la discipline pour les années à venir. » Thomas Labbé, Revue historique
«The book “Climate and Society in Europe - the Last Thousand Years” by Christian Pfister and Heinz Wanner, published in 2021, is the most important summary of European climate and environmental history to date.» Lajos RÁCZ, Ekonomska- i Ekohistorija
«Nevertheless, Pfister and Wanner have crafted an invaluable resource: a relatively concise volume that could well spur a new wave of teaching and research into the influence of climate change in European history. For students in climate science or environmental history, it provides a sound introduction to a fast-growing and increasingly important field.» Dagomar Degroot, H-Soz-Kult
«In conclusion, this book is a must-read, but it should be read and meditated upon above all by the new generations […]» Antonio Contino, atmosphere