In May 1315, years before the Black Death, it started to rain. For the seven disastrous years that followed, Europeans would be visited by a series of curses unseen since the third book of Exodus: floods, ice, failures of crops and cattle and epidemics not just of disease, but of pike, sword and spear. All told, six million lives, one-eighth of Europe's total population, would be lost. This is the stunning story of the oft-overlooked Great Famine, told with wit and drama, it demonstrates what it all means for today's discussions of climate change.