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neilazaara's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Boy this was long. I can’t even say I would recommend it to anyone because this book took me 2 months to finish.
Some very interesting points were made and in depth analysis of socio-economic, political and ecological factors. What really let it down is the tone of the book and the structure. There’s just something about the editing of this book that is really wrong. It doesn’t feel like a book that is ready to be published for the wider public but more like an empirical scientific review of the available literature on the topic. It is very repetitive due to the way the chapters are structured. There was a lot of overlap and repetition from one chapter to another which in the end didn’t bring additional insight to the topic. It should have either been clearly divided between centuries/periods from one chapter to another or it should have been divided by topics/themes and their impact on the earth’s transformation through time. Here it just seemed a bit confused, very dense and not that engaging for a book that is traditionally published and isn’t meant as a reference book for university (which it felt like it was…).
Overall, unless you’re very interested in geological transformations or you’re witting an essay in a related field, I would skip that one…
Some very interesting points were made and in depth analysis of socio-economic, political and ecological factors. What really let it down is the tone of the book and the structure. There’s just something about the editing of this book that is really wrong. It doesn’t feel like a book that is ready to be published for the wider public but more like an empirical scientific review of the available literature on the topic. It is very repetitive due to the way the chapters are structured. There was a lot of overlap and repetition from one chapter to another which in the end didn’t bring additional insight to the topic. It should have either been clearly divided between centuries/periods from one chapter to another or it should have been divided by topics/themes and their impact on the earth’s transformation through time. Here it just seemed a bit confused, very dense and not that engaging for a book that is traditionally published and isn’t meant as a reference book for university (which it felt like it was…).
Overall, unless you’re very interested in geological transformations or you’re witting an essay in a related field, I would skip that one…
ptrevs's review against another edition
I really wanted to like this book but it felt very unfocused. I admired what the author was trying to accomplish and commend him for it but a more focused look at climate change in specific eras/areas would be more effective. It felt like a series of unconnected, yet interesting anecdotes.
chaotic_wholesome's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
gmd_84's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Massive - so much in every chapter - always interesting. I hope something has gone in. Not higher than 4* as some of the earlier chapters feel quite repetitive.
vortimer's review
5.0
Topped and tailed by terrifying facts and statistics about the climate damage we are currently inflicting on the planet, the meat of this is a study of history back to prehistory, and how the environment and weather affects human culture and actions, and how the cultures interact with each other. We tend to break history into silos, and not look at how everything links together, and is fascinating.