Catastrophe cover

Catastrophe

by David Keys

An examination of the origins of the modern world looks to a world-wide climatic event that blocked out much of the sunlight for eighteen months, wreaking havoc on civilization. This volume argues that climatic catastrophes in the sixth century AD changed the course of world history. The author reconstructs the global chain of revolutions that began in the catastrophe of A.D. 535, then offers a definitive explanation of how and why this cataclysm occurred on that momentous day centuries ago. He uses tree-ring samples, analysis of lake deposits and ice cores, as well as contemporaneous documents to bolster his thesis.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?