The Breath of the Gods
- Author Simon Winchester
- Narrator Simon Winchester
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date 18 November 2025
- Run Time 13 hours and 52 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Alternative and renewable energy industries, Climate change, General and world history, Meteorology, Social impact of disasters, Weather and climate: general interest, Wind power.
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What to expect
Sunday Times bestselling author Simon Winchester returns with a thought-provoking history of the wind, written in his edifying and entertaining style.
What is going on with our atmosphere? The headlines are filled with news of devastating hurricanes, murderous tornadoes, and cataclysmic fires. Gale force advisories are issued on a regular basis by weather services around the world.
Atmospheric scientists are warning that winds – the force at the centre of all these dangerous natural events – are expected to steadily increase in the years ahead, strengthening in power, speed, and frequency. While this prediction worried the insurance industry, governmental leaders, scientists, and conscientious citizens, one particular segment of society received it with unbridled enthusiasm. To the energy industry, rising wind strength and speeds as an unalloyed boon for humankind – a vital source of clean and ‘safe’ power.
Between these two poles – wind as a malevolent force, and wind as saviour of our planet – lies a world of fascination, history, literature, science, poetry, and engineering which Simon Winchester explores with the curiosity and Vigor that are the hallmarks of his bestselling works. In The Breath of the Gods, he explains how wind plays a part in our everyday lives, from airplane or car travel to the ‘natural disasters’ that are becoming more frequent and regular.
The Breath of the Gods is an urgently-needed portrait across time of that unseen force – unseen but not unfelt – that respects no national borders and no vessel or structure in its path. Wind, the movement of the air, is seen by so many as a heavenly creation and generally a thing of essential goodness. But when it flexes its invisible muscles, all should take care and be very afraid.
Critics Review
‘As Simon Winchester writes in his delightful new book, The Breath of the Gods, these invisible currents of air shape our lives in myriad ways … a thoroughly enjoyable book, brimming over with historical nuggets and contemplations about the future’ New York Times
n‘Epic … Winchester brings depth to the history of the wind … A splendidly written account of an unseeable force’ Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
n‘Beguiling … [Winchester] conveys all this lore in prose that’s colourful and evocative … Readers will savor this’ Publishers Weekly
n‘Big nonfiction books that explore the world through the lens of a single object or concept have been popular for decades … but few are as stirring as The Breath of the Gods … Winchester’s exquisitely clear prose leads us into a new understanding of a changing climate and the dangers ahead’ Boston Globe
n‘Even when it’s a familiar topic, Winchester finds fascinating ways in … a great synthesizer of material … my copy is packed with notes on the extraordinary people and details he unearths … Winchester’s writing is a breath of fresh air’ Minneapolis Star Tribune
n‘A prolific and bestselling popular historian, Winchester turns his attention to that most powerful of forces: the wind. With his signature entertaining erudition, he explores a subject that has powered the human world since our inception’ New York Times
n‘Winchester provides an immensely informative and engaging biography of wind — meteorological, literary, philosophical — from milling grain to the battle of Salamis to climate change across the globe’ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
n‘A former reporter, Winchester can find a good story anywhere, and his range is enormous … This time he takes to the air with a study of the phenomenon that shapes Earth’s climate and influences human history’ NPR.org
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