With the inclusion of new material, preface and illustrations, this 2nd edition of Lamb's acclaimed book covers issues of past and present climates, impacts on human affairs and an understanding of the problems of forecasting.

1. Introduction 2. The Climate Problem Part I: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CLIMATE 3. How Climate Works 4. How Climate Comes to Fluctuate and Change 5. How We Can Reconstruct the Past Record of Climate Part II: CLIMATE AND HISTORY 6. Climate at the Dawn of History 7. In the Times of Early Civilizations 8. Times of Disturbance and Decline in the Ancient World 9. Roman Times and After 10. Through Viking Times to the High Middle Ages 11. Decline Again in the Late Middle Ages 12. The Little Ice Age: Background to the History of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 13. The Recovery: 1700 to Around 1950 Part III: CLIMATE IN THE MODERN WORLD AND QUESTIONS OVER THE FUTURE 14. Climate Since 1950 15. The Impact of Climatic Developments on Human Affairs and Human History 16. The Causes of Climate's Fluctuations and Changes 17. Forecasting 18. Developments Over Recent Decades Suggestions for Further Reading

` ... he has succeeded in placing himself at the strategic centre of the problem. From there he has been able to undertake fascinating excursions into all sorts of fields ... the crowning achievement of a splendid career.' - Times Literary Supplement