The history of climate change – with help

THE EARTH TRANSFORMED

by Peter Frankopan 736pp, Bloomsbury, 1514), RRP£30, ebook £21

ÌÌÌÌÌ T£25 (0844 871

It is a sign of the ambition, sincerity and occasional rage of the historian Peter Frankopan’s latest expansive book that the epigraphs at the beginning encompass everyone and everything from the Koran to Henry Kissinger, and implicitly contrast Thomas Jefferson with Donald Trump. This eclecticism is reflected throughout The Earth Transformed, which makes Frankopan’s earlier

The Silk Roads look almost parochial in its scope. That centuriesspanning history of international trade routes (centred on the Persian empire) was described by the New York Times as “an old-fashioned good book”. Much the same could be said of its author’s latest, which marries a serious, timely subject – the story of humanity from the perspective of climate change, both natural and man-made – with thumpingly readable prose. Frankopan may be an Oxford professor, but this is proper scholarship with a gossamer touch.

Its central thesis is, to put it mildly, a downbeat one; not for nothing does the book begin with an allusion to Paradise Lost. A few pages later, the author declares that “we live in a world teetering on the brink of disaster because of climate change”. This may seem a well-worn thesis, but Frankopan’s skill is to create a new genre: the ecological epic history. The Earth Transformed begins with the dawn of time, and concludes with, “The summer of 2022 might have been enough to convince even the most sceptical of people that something strange is afoot within global weather systems.” In between, Frankopan assembles a surprising collection of historical figures and antecedents to support his arguments, often with welcome shafts of wit.

With the exception of anthologies, or parody, there will be few other books this year that feature Genghis Khan, Gertrude Bell, Jules Verne and Ted Cruz. If