The Year Without Summer: 1816 and the Volcano That Darkened the World and Changed History

The opening chapter of The Lost German Slave Girl recounts the emigration of an Alsatian-German family from their homeland on the heels of a failed harvest. The year is 1816, and the snows came well into the summer months. For the Müllers, the results of the missing summer were devastating, but personal.

In The Year Without Summer: 1816 and the Volcano That Darkened the World and Changed History, William K. Klingaman takes a more global perspective on the ramifications of the eruption of Tambora and the resultant weather patterns. Yet, more than a book about the weather or a treatise on plate tectonics, Klingaman offers readers a holistic view of the world in 1816 - from the colonization of Southeast Asia to the final fights between Federalists and Democratic-Republican party in the U.S. - and specifically how these events were further shaped by the weather wrought by Tambora.

There is famine in Ireland, labor unrest in England, and everywhere the schooled and unschooled alike debate the realities of climate change. Yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same and the arguments Klingaman reconstructs by citing dozens of original sources drive home the point nicely. Throughout the pages run the same themes we debate today: about climate change, religion, and the proper role of government, for example. (Lest we forget, the year without summer also gave us Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written as a direct result of too much rain and cold for much other than reading, writing, and storytelling.)

The verdict: an interesting read, but not a critical one, unless one is a particular scholar of either the era or the science. Three stars.

P.S. I've just learned that NPR did a story on Tambora on April 29. So happy reading or happy listening!