<p> An amazing, enlightening, and endlessly entertaining look at how weather has shaped our world. </p> <p> Throughout history, great leaders have fallen, the outcomes of mighty battles have been determined, and the tides of earth-shattering events have been turned by a powerful, inscrutable force of nature: the weather. In <i>Blame It on the Rain</i>, author Laura Lee explores the amazing and sometimes bizarre ways in which weather has influenced our history and helped to bring about sweeping cultural change. She also delights us with a plethora of fascinating weather-related facts (Did you know that more Britons die of sunburn every year than Australians?), while offering readers a hilarious overview of humankind's many absurd attempts to control the elements. </p> <ul> <li><p>If a weather-produced blight hadn't severely damaged French vineyards, there might never have been a California wine industry. . . .</p></li> <li><p>What weather phenomenon was responsible for the sound of the Stradivarius?</p></li> <li><p>If there had been a late autumn in Russia, Hitler could have won World War II. . . .</p></li> <li><p>Did weather play a part in Truman's victory over Dewey?</p></li> </ul> <p> Eye-opening, edifying, and totally unexpected, <i>Blame It on the Rain</i> is a fascinating appreciation of the destiny-altering vagaries of mother nature&#8212and it's even more fun than watching the Weather Channel! </p>