Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36191 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Synopsis
In "Frozen In Time", TV weathermen Ian McCaskill and Paul Hudson take you back to the days when snowdrifts were as high as houses, 'below zero' meant below 0 degrees Fahrenheit and when the onset of Spring was heralded not by the dawn chorus but the sound of bursting pipes. "Frozen In Time" explains why such winters happen and why they might return.

It journeys back into history to 'The Year of No Summer', 'The Famine Winter' and the years when 'Frost Fairs' were held on the frozen Thames, and it tells the stories of the three worst winters of the twentieth century - arguably the worst winters ever: 1947 - the snowiest winter ever recorded, when blizzards raged for days and weeks on end, snowdrifts cut off large parts of the country and when the thaw finally came, it brought with it the worst floods ever recorded; 1963 - the coldest winter ever, when icefloes choked our rivers, the sea froze for 100 yards off shore, and millions of farm animals and wild creatures froze or starved to death; and, 1979 - 'The Winter of Discontent', when the savage snows and frosts were made worse by the strikes that paralysed Britain, causing power cuts, fuel shortages, transport snarl-ups, and left dustbins unemptied, hospitals unstaffed and bodies unburied for weeks on end. Ian McCaskill brings a unique perspective to these three severe winters, having experienced as a child the severe conditions of 1947 and then as a meteorologist and BBC weather forecaster reporting on the severe winters of '63 and '79.

His personal recollections will strike a chord with anyone who lived through these periods. Paul Hudson, one of BBC Look North's most popular presenters and famous for his cheerful presenting style and studio banter, explains the implications of global warming and its direct relation to severe weather conditions.

Customer Reviews

A Book That Sparks Strong Memories
During this year, I have given this book as a gift to at least six relatives/friends 'of a certain age' and have now become used to the response which is always along the lines of 'Oh, I remember that winter, I was ...' and then they're off on a long ramble down memory lane. It's amazing how our memories are sparked by tales of snow - whether we recall harsh winters, fun times or communities pulling together - and this book is just perfect in its detail and evocative images. It's become such a sure-fire gift book for me that I have now bought the follow-up 'Storm Force'for the same friends and relatives (all aged 50 plus) who enjoyed Frozen in Time - I expect the same response as it's an excellent read too.

An Excellent Book
The authors of this book, Paul Hudson and Ian McCaskill, are both qualified meterologists and so have a thorough understanding of weather conditions and factors affecting our climate, which comes across in the thoroughness of this book. At the same time, they are both seasoned TV presenters and, therefore, know how to make the topic of weather both interesting and entertaining. This book is crammed full of fascinating facts and pictures and makes you realise that what we consider to be a cold winter is nothing like that of 1947 or '63. The chapter on the Winter of Discontent also introduces a political angle. All in all, it's a great read and well deserving of five stars.

Puts faded memories into context
I was 14 in 1978, and remember many of the events in that winter - but I couldn't remember what order things happened in, the politics were a bit vague etc - reading this book was like revisiting an old childhood haunt, suddenly I could remember lots of other things around that time - a good exercise in nostalgia, and I assume for those who remember 1947 and 1963 it will be the same.

One significant criticism though - at least some of the photos show vehicles with registration numbers which make the pictures more recent than the book implies - e.g. a 'D' registration landrover is shown, which would date the picture at 1985 or later. Only an apparently trivial point, but it undermines my trust in all the other photos, hence four stars.