The Year Without Summer: 1816

The Year Without Summer: 1816 and the Volcano that Darkened the World and Changed History by William K. Klingaman and Nicholas P. Klingaman Summary: Like Winchester's Krakatoa, The Year Without Summer reveals a year of dramatic global change long forgotten by history In the tradition of Krakatoa, The World Without Us, and Guns, Germs and Steel comes a sweeping history of the year that became known as 18-hundred-and-froze-to-death. 1816 was a remarkable year—mostly for the fact that there was no summer. As a result of a volcanic eruption at Mount Tambora in Indonesia, weather patterns were disrupted worldwide for months, allowing for excessive rain, frost, and snowfall through much of the Northeastern U.S. and Europe in the summer of 1816. In the U.S., the extraordinary weather produced food shortages, religious revivals, and extensive migration from New England to the Midwest. In Europe, the cold and wet summer led to famine, food riots, the transformation of stable communities into wandering beggars, and one of the worst typhus epidemics in history. 1816 was the year Frankenstein was written. It was also the year Turner painted his fiery sunsets. All of these things are linked to global climate change—something we are quite aware of now, but that was utterly mysterious to people in the nineteenth century, who concocted all sorts of reasons for such an ungenial season. Making use of a wealth of source material and employing a compelling narrative approach featuring peasants and royalty, politicians, writers, and scientists, The Year Without Summer by William K. Klingaman and Nicholas P. Klingaman examines not only the climate change engendered by the volcano, but also its effects on politics, the economy, the arts, and social structures. Angie's Comments: The volcano eruption is dealt with in the first chapter, and the aftereffects take up the rest of the book. Much of the book is taken from first-hand accounts found in letters, diaries, and newspapers. The eastern U.S. and western Europe are the focus, and the rest of the world is addressed in an epilogue (due to lack of records). This book shows how the eruption affected Mormonism, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, British government and laws, among other things. The book does get repetitive because the authors keep talking about the cold weather and the failing crops that continued throughout the entire summer. Of course, if I was living in that time, I would get tired of the conditions as well! The eruption caused so many deaths due to crop failure. The Year Without Summer brings to life a mostly forgotten time of hardship and suffering. Although repetitive, it highlights a number of events that were caused by the eruption, events which affect us today. Recommended for readers interested in weather and history. Request this item