From the author of the bestselling The Map that Changed the World comes the first book that truly explains the greatest volcanic explosion of modern
times.
In August 1883 the most terrifying volcanic eruption occurred on the island of Krakatoa,off the western tip of Java. The island was destroyed and almost 40,000 people were killed. The impact was truly global: ships sailing in the Red Sea were covered in ash; barometers went haywire in Washington; the seas were disturbed in Devon; immense rafts of pumice floated to Africa.
In his wonderfully clear and engaging style, Simon Winchester describes not just the science of this iconic event, but its drama, its characters and its extraordinary political and social consequences.
Simon Winchester was born and educated in England, has lived in Africa, Ireland, India and China, and now lives in US. He was a foreign correspondent for more than 30 years and now contributes to a variety of American and British newspapers. His twomost recent books were the international bestsellers, The Surgeon of Crowthorne and The Map that Changed the World.