Only recently has it become reasonable that historians should include climate in their analyses of the past. In this case, research on grain prices during the Ming dynasty revealed that China was in lock-step with Europe in experiencing what climate historians call the Little Ice Age, extending from the start of the fourteenth century and carrying on, up and down, into the nineteenth. In this Tiger Talk, Tim Brook explains that given our growing understanding of the role of climate in human society, we have to include climate change as a determining variable in the rise and fall of states and societies.  While his recent book The Price of Collapse: Finding the Little Ice Age in Ming China is lauded as providing an entirely new approach to the economic and social history of China, Tim considers The Price of Collapse as “not a book I set out to write, but when I found the evidence, I had no choice but to write it.”

Registration for the talk is by email invitation only, and at this time participation is limited to members of our Tiger Community, including Helen Lin's students, colleagues, family, and invited guests. We welcome friends and colleagues of Tiger Community members to join us -- please have them send us their contact information, so we can send them an invitation. Email: HTL.Legacy@gmail.com

 

If you are not on our mailing list and would like to receive invitations and updates regarding our activities and events, please subscribe via the Contact Us tab – Stay In Touch button on this website.