Introduction
Blame It on the Rain: How the Weather has Changed History is a new book by author Laura Lee which details how the weather has rewritten historical events. With over 50 short stories ranging from strategic war defeats, to religious occurrences, and to cultural changes, Ms. Lee details the ways in which common weather phenomena literally changed the history books. This thoroughly researched book gives history and science buffs a great weekend read and could excite any forward-thinking teacher as a way to create cross curricular lesson plans combining these topics. Forget reading on rainy days, you will want to read this book from end to end no matter what the weather!
The Interview
I would like to first thank you for taking the time to complete an interview with me. Your book is both engaging and powerful, making the reader think about the multitude of seemingly minimal factors that can and do change human history in profound ways. The combination of history and science is a publishing endeavor rarely embarked upon in such a way that an average reader is fully engaged in the context, completely unaware of the education they are getting. Blame It on the Rain really reads like a novel telling the timeline of the interactions of mankind with the weather elements we try, often unsuccessfully, to predict and control.When did you get the idea for Blame It on the Rain?
I was asked to write a proposal for a book on the weather for another publisher. It was originally envisioned as being a general interest book on weather systems and patterns. One small section of this proposal discussed historical episodes that were affected by the weather. The original publisher decided not to do a weather book, and my agent presented the concept to Harper Collins. They found the section on the weather and history to be the most interesting, and I agreed with them. So the original proposal evolved into the current book.
I was quite impressed with your extensive bibliography. How long did it take to research this book?
I worked on it full time for about six months.
Did you always have a special interest in the weather?
My father, Albert Lee, wrote a book called Weather Wisdom about the science behind weather folklore. I thought it might be interesting to update this work and expand upon it.
It seems that teachers around the world might be very interested in using this book as a multidisciplinary tool in the classroom. I can envision lesson plans that combine both history and science. Have you had any feedback from teachers on this book?
As a writer, I don’t get much direct feedback from the people who read my books, so I don’t really know how people use them. The material in the book could be used as a jumping off point for further discussion in the classroom, but it actually does not contain a lot of science. I describe weather phenomenon and their effects, but I included very little detailed discussion of cloud formations, cold fronts and low pressure systems.
That's okay! In fact, it could help shed some light on the topic more as people do their own research about the causes of the weather. If we can get people interested in history and weather, they will learn A LOT! But arguably, historians attribute the end-result of many historical happenings to multiple factors. Have you thought about other natural forces that changed history?
As I mentioned in the introduction to Blame it on the Rain, to say that the weather alone caused any of the events in my book is an oversimplification. What is interesting about history is how interrelated different events are. I’m especially interested in unintended consequences. While researching this book, I occasionally came across a story of how another type of natural disaster—an earthquake or a volcano—affected something in history, but I wanted to limit the book to meteorological events.
Each segment of the book is easy to read, short, and succinct. Have you explored any of the events in more detail? If so, can you describe that event?
For each of the events covered, I had to read a great deal more than is represented in the chapter itself, but given the constraints of the format, and the number of topics I covered, I didn’t have the opportunity to explore any one topic in any scholarly depth.
I work with many people from Russia, so I have a particular interest in Russian history. The chapter in Blame it on the Rain on World War II and the German plan to invade Moscow, and their defeat at Stalingrad, does not begin to capture the strength of the Soviet people and the terrible toll that war took on an entire generation. The weather played its part in foiling Hitler’s Russian ambitions, but it is far too simple to credit the weather alone. Continue to Page 2...
