Books on the Little Ice Age in the Dutch North Atlantic

In January 2023, Chelsea Teale and Dagomar Degroot spoke on the Little Ice Age at the New Amsterdam History Center.

The Dutch Republic experienced its so-called Golden Age from the 16th Century through the 18th Century, during an extended period of variable climate that often included colder temperatures and severe weather events. Although the Dutch Republic itself thrived during this "Little Ice Age," the Amsterdam-based Dutch West India Company struggled to establish and maintain its New World colony of New Netherland between 1624 and 1664.

As a follow-up, Dr. Degroot recommended further reading on the topic.

Degroot, Dagomar, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Jessica E. Tierney, Felix Riede, Andrea Manica, Emma Moesswilde, and Nicolas Gauthier. "The history of climate and society: a review of the influence of climate change on the human past." Environmental Research Letters 17, no. 10 (2022): 103001.

Our recent open-access article that summarizes the global study of human responses to preindustrial climate changes, as practiced in all its major disciplines. Good for context, I think.

Wickman, Thomas M. Snowshoe country: an environmental and cultural history of winter in the early American Northeast. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

A book by a leading historian that considers how both English settlers and Wabanaki communities coped with the Little Ice Age.

White, Sam. A cold welcome: the Little Ice Age and Europe's encounter with North America. Harvard University Press, 2017.

A book by one of the world's foremost authorities on the Little Ice Age that focuses on the settler experience of climate and climate change in North America.

Degroot, Dagomar. The frigid golden age: Climate change, the little ice age, and the Dutch Republic, 1560-1720. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

A book on the trials and successes of the Dutch during the Little Ice Age, with a special focus on commerce, conflict, and culture.