History of the World in 10 Storms

Rain, fog, wind, blizzard. A silent protagonist has endured for millennia, one which influences the fate of humanity more than kings, generals and revolutions: climate, along with all its atmospheric emissaries.At Waterloo Napoleon had calculated everything except the storm that broke out during the night of 17 June 1815, making the ground impassable and altering the battle conditions in ways that proved to be critical. A fog was exploited by Hannibal to achieve victory in the Battle of Lake Trasimene, and climate changes drove the so-called "barbarians" to the gates of Rome, contributing to the fall of the Roman Empire. A snowfall influenced the outcome of the Wars of the Roses, a tornado played a key role in the American War of Independence, and an anticyclone was responsible for the famine that triggered the French Revolution. Heavy rains and an exceptionally cold winter played a key role in the failure of Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union in WW II, while cloud patterns condemned Hiroshima and Nagasaki to becoming targets of the atomic bomb.In this gripping and surprising book, cloud physicist Vincenzo Levizzani demonstrates how the weather has always acted as the invisible director of major historical events and how it continues to do so today. He also shows that when we delude ourselves into thinking we are holding the reins of history, quite often what we actually find enclosed in our hands is but a drop of rain.