Rain, fog, wind, frost, drought. There is a silent protagonist that runs through the millennia and shapes the fate of humanity more than kings, generals or revolutions: the climate, with all its atmospheric envoys. “Storia del mondo in 10 tempeste” (A History of the World in 10 Storms) revisits the great events of the past from the unfamiliar perspective of meteorology, showing how often the meeting of human beings and destiny has been settled by unexpected natural phenomena. Napoleon had calculated everything: the dimensions of the plain at Waterloo, the placing of the artillery, the charge of the Guard. The one thing he had not allowed for was the storm that broke on the night of 17–18 June 1815, turning the ground to mud and forcing delays on the Emperor that proved decisive. Starting from episodes such as this one, Vincenzo Levizzani leads us through the centuries and recounts the many times human plans have collided with the fury of the elements. He shows how the weather has always acted as the invisible director of great events, and how it still does, shaping our habits, our economy and our culture. The book is also a reflection on ambition and humility: because often, when we imagine we are holding the reins of History, all we really have in our fist is a drop of rain.