Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of Modern Civilization Review

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Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of Modern Civilization ReviewWithin minutes of finishing this riveting, wide-ranging book, I was composing an email recommending it to several friends.
The author -- archaeologist and journalist David Keys -- posits that a single event in about 535 CE triggered between 18 months and 3+ yrs of bad weather worldwide. The first calamity to follow the catastrophe was drought in some places, massive floods in others. On the heels of terrible weather came famine worldwide and plague in the old world.
Implicated in and resulting from these, he traces massive movements of peoples in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America, and radical changes in government everywhere. (He reaches a bit when discussing North America, which has the thinnest archaeological and no historical evidence.)
Among -- but not limited to -- the changes he attributes to the catastrophe are these --
- the triumph of the Anglo-Saxons over the Celts
- the entrenchment of Buddhism in Japan, and Japan's unification
- new governmental structures in various SE Asian states
- the "fall" of the Roman Empire
- the rise of Islam
- the flowering of Anasazi culture
- the rise of the first pan-Peruvian empire
- the abandonment of Arianism
- the development of a Jewish state in today's southern Ukraine, leading to the separation of the Ashkenazim fromthe "original" Jews
A significant part of the book is spent in explanation of some of the science used in dating historic events. Keys explains dendrochronology (dating by tree rings), the development of the study of glacial ice cores, and variations in carbon isotopes over time, among other methods. His explanations are thorough but simple, never lapsing into jargon.
As an example of the breadth of his reach, here are the entries for "O" in the index (chosen because it's significantly shorter than most): Obadiah, king of Khazars; Oc Eo (Funan); Oghuz Turks; Ohio State University Institute of Polar Studies; Opone (East Africa); Osman; Ostrogoth; Ottoman Empire; Outuken Yish; Oxkintok, Teotihuacano influence in.
Despite the fact that Keys writes as a layman, for a lay audience, the book is well footnoted. Don't worry, they're at the back of the book and can be ignored by those who choose to do so. Readers who use footnotes will find dozens of topics (that would be distractions in the text) explored, or at least mentioned in the notes.
Keys also includes a several-page bibliography. I have already read several titles mentioned in the bibliography and no doubt will continue to use it as a resource.
I am bored by reviewers who go on about what a book isn't. What Catastrophe is, is a well-annotated book that's readable, nicely written, and thoroughly researched, that won't insult its readers and is likely to inspire quite a few to explore new areas of interest. Oh yes, it's entertaining too!Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of Modern Civilization Overview

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