For topics as large as this or the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima—which is also covered in the book-- I can only hope that my succinct entries lead people to explore further and that they don’t trivialize such overwhelming and awesome historical events.
There were also a number of historical events that I considered covering, but for one reason or another, didn’t manage to get into the final version. I have an interest in some of the lesser-known wars of American and world history, but in the end, even though I could find weather related episodes in many of these engagements, it was harder to make the clear case that there was a greater historical impact.
Going back to my interest in Russian history, I was fascinated to read about the U.S. sending troops to Russia after World War I to aid anti-Bolshevik troops. This was something I’d never learned about in school. I live in the Detroit area, and the majority of the soldiers who were sent on this mission were from Michigan. I found a wonderful local history book about their time in Russia. The mission stalled in October when the winter set in and paralyzed the region. I have many vivid descriptions of Russian cold—but in the end, it was politics, not weather that put an end to the mission, and as much as I would have liked to have talked about this episode, another chapter on how cold it is in Russia in winter seemed a little redundant.
Which of the historical events did you find the most amazing or hard to believe in the course of your research?
My favorite entry is the one on the death of Lord Kitchener in World War I. I found a wonderful old book called War Weather Vignettes by Alexander McAdie. It was published in 1925, so the events were very fresh. At the time Lord Kitchener’s death had the same impact on the public that the more recent deaths of Lady Diana or JFK, Jr. had. In the long run, in history, those events will not be seen as turning points. And Lord Kitchener’s death most likely did not change the course of history, so it was fascinating to read about how significant it was to people at the time.
McAdie wrote: “He [Kitchener] might have brought to the distressed nation (and probably no one else could have done so) authority that would be respected, integrity and disinterestedness that all factions would have appreciated. If the storm center had passed over the Orkneys a few hours earlier, the eastern channel would have been selected. If the fury of the northwest wind had been less, a rescue would have been effected. But it was not to be. The destiny of Russia, perhaps the fate of Europe itself, hung upon a forecast of weather made that June afternoon…”
After Kitchener’s accident a con man tried to convince the public that Kitchener was still alive. Later he changed his story, and said that Kitchener had died in Norway, and he got the British Legion to help him retrieve the coffin, which contained nothing but tar. The whole story was very curious.
Do you have any other books you are working on? Can you tell more about them?
I have a book called The Elvis Impersonation Kit (Black Dog and Leventhal) which is due out in October. I interviewed dozens of Elvi to write this how to guide to impersonating the King. Next spring, Black Dog and Leventhal is publishing A Child’s Guide to the Ballet, which I recently completed. I’m hoping to do one more book this year. Continue to Page 3...