Peter Frankopan looks at the past differently in “The Earth Transformed”
How the environment shapes history—and vice versa
People are exercised by three things above all else, wrote Voltaire in the mid-18th century: climate, government and religion. He was ahead of his time in putting climate first. Peter Frankopan opens his new book with Voltaire’s comment and proceeds to show how all manner of natural disasters have shaped human history: not just floods and storms, but earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and crashing meteorites, too.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Nature and nurture”
Culture March 11th 2023
- Two brave books tell the story of lockdown in Wuhan
- Peter Frankopan looks at the past differently in “The Earth Transformed”
- It’s war at this year’s Oscars
- Singapore’s unique dining style comes to Manhattan
- Sumner Redstone and the battle for Paramount
- In “Birnam Wood”, Eleanor Catton returns with a thriller
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