Natural Disasters, Cultural Responses Case Studies toward a Global Environmental History

by Mauch, Christof; Pfister, Christian; Akasoy, Anna A.; Bankoff, Greg; Damodaran, Vinita; Davies, Sarah J.; Endfield, Georgina H.; Favier, René; Tejedo, Isabel Fernandez; Granet-Abisset, Anne-Marie; Janku, Andrea; Mauelshagen, Franz; Metcalfe, Sarah E.; Mit

• ISBN13: 9780739124154
• ISBN10: 0739124153
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-03-16
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

This is the first global history of natural catastrophes. It brings together some of the best scholars from different continents and different disciplines to discuss human responses to natural catastrophes.

Author Biography

Christ of Mauch is the chair of North American history and transatlantic relations at the Amerika-Institut of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich, Germany. Christian Pfister is professor of economic, social, and environmental history at the Institute of History, University of Bern, in Bern, Switzerland.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. vii
List of Tables	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Learning from Nature-Induced Disasters: Theoretical Considerations and Case Studies from Western Europe	p. 17
Disaster and Political Culture in Germany since 1500	p. 41
Summer Frost: A Natural Hazard with Fatal Consequences in Preindustrial Finland	p. 77
Society and Natural Risks in France, 1500-2000: Changing Historical Perspectives	p. 103
Humanitarianism and Colonialism: Religious Responses to the Algerian Drought and Famine of 1866-1870	p. 137
The Floods of Baghdad: Cultural and Technological Responses	p. 165
Interpreting Earthquakes in Medieval Islamic Texts	p. 183
Famine in Bengal: A Comparison of the 1770 Famine in Bengal and the 1897 Famine in Chotanagpur	p. 197
"Heaven-Sent Disasters" in Late Imperial China: The Scope of the State and Beyond	p. 233
Cultures of Disaster, Cultures of Coping: Hazard as a Frequent Life Experience in the Philippines	p. 265
The Parana River Floods during the Spanish Colonial Period: Impact and Responses	p. 285
Documenting Disaster: Archival Investigations of Climate, Crisis, and Catastrophe in Colonial Mexico	p. 305
American Disasters during the Twentieth Century: The Case of New Jersey	p. 327
Afterword	p. 355
Index	p. 361
About the Contributors	p. 379
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