Episode 175: Cold Spell: A Human History of Ice with Max Leonard

Versus History Podcast

In this episode, we interview author Max Leonard about his new book.
A Cold Spell: A Human History of Ice by Max Leonard

This book is the story of humanity through the lens of ice – our interactions with ice, our need for it, and what it means for us that it is rapidly disappearing from our planet.

Max takes us from the beginning of our story to the modern day, tracing the ways ice has influenced our development, our economies, our social customs and our lives. Exposing the commonalities between an opulently frozen mummy, Winston Churchill’s plans for inventive aircraft carriers and mountaineering, it’s bound to change how you think about the world around you.

‘In a bracingly original book, Max Leonard makes something we all take for granted into an absorbing pathway into history, geography and science … A highly readable feast of insights and surprises

- Michael Palin

‘A wonderful history of ingenuity, wanderlust, preservation and exploitation. Max Leonard has written an original chronicle of human nature, and you’ll skate through it with enduring

insight and pleasure.’ - Simon Garfield
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