Catastrophe : an investigation into the origins of the modern world
(Book)

"Originally published in Great Britian by Century Books, Random House UK Ltd., in 1999"--T.p. verso. "It was a catastrophe without precedent in record history: suddenly, with no warning or apparent cause, the sun failed to shine starting in A.D. 535. For months on end, a strange, dusky haze plunged much of the earth into semi-darkness. Crops failed in Asia and the Middle East as global weather patterns radically altered. Bubonic plague, exploding out of Africa, wiped out entire populations in Europe. Flood and drought brought ancient cultures to the brink of collapse. In a matter of decades, the old order died and a new world - essentially the modern world as we know it today - emerged." -- dust cover. Includes bibliographical references (p. 323-327) and index.

It was a catastrophe without precedent in recorded history: suddenly, with no warning or apparent cause, the sun failed to shine.