Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines by James Francis Warren

Typhoons offers an unprecedented and extensive view of the complex interplay of typhoons and Philippine society. Its sweeping coverage spans the earliest contact with the West, the development of the trans-Pacific trade, the incursions of the Catholic religion, integration into the Modern World system, and the extraordinary influence of centuries of extreme weather — all brought together in remarkable scholarship.

By placing typhoons and associated hazards at the center of his historical focus, James Francis Warren presents a bold and innovative interpretation of Philippine pasts and futures, dissolving the distinction between natural hazards and natural disasters. The result is a unique, long-term perspective on Philippine environmental and socioeconomic history through the lens of a recurrent extreme weather event — one that extends all the way to the present and lays down the critical challenges confronting us in a globally warmer and more unpredictable future. An essential reference for those interested in multidisciplinary approaches to environmental sciences, social sciences, disaster risk management, and sustainable development, Typhoons is an astonishing, panoramic, and persuasive study of inestimable value.

About the Author

James Francis Warren is emeritus professor of modern Southeast Asian history at Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. He is an award-winning historian who has published numerous monographs, journal articles, and book chapters. His books include The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State (eds. 1981, 2007, and 2021); Iranun and Balangingi: Globalisation, Maritime Raiding, and the Birth of Ethnicity (2002); Pirates, Prostitutes, and Pullers: Explorations in the Ethno and Social History of Southeast Asia (2008); Rickshaw Coolie: A People's History of Singapore, 1880- 1940 (1986 and 2003); and Ah Ku and Karayuki San: Prostitution in Singapore, 1870-1940 (1993 and 2003). He lives in Perth, with his wife, Carol, an anthropologist, and daughter, Kristin, a wildlife, zoological, and conservation medicine specialist.