Includes bibliographical references (p. [245]-262) and index.

A time of warming -- "The mantle of the poor" -- The flail of God -- The golden trade of the Moors -- Inuit and Qadlunaat -- The megadrought epoch -- Acorns and pueblos -- Lords of the water mountains -- The lords of Chimor -- Bucking the trades -- The flying fish ocean -- China's sorrow -- The silent elephant.

From the 10th to the 15th centuries, the earth experienced a rise in surface temperature that changed climate worldwide--a preview of today's global warming. In some areas, including Western Europe, longer summers brought bountiful harvests and population growth that led to cultural flowering. In the Arctic, Inuit and Norse sailors made cultural connections across thousands of miles as they traded precious iron goods. Polynesian sailors, riding new wind patterns, were able to settle the remotest islands on earth. But in many parts of the world, the warm centuries brought drought and famine. Elaborate societies in western and Central America collapsed, and the vast building complexes of Chaco Canyon and the Mayan Yucatan were left empty. Anthropologist and historian Brian Fagan reveals how subtle changes in the environment had far-reaching effects on human life, in a narrative that sweeps from the Arctic ice cap to the Sahara to the Indian Ocean.--From publisher description.