Fire Mountain: How One Man Survived the World's Worst Volcanic Disaster - Hardcover

Morgan, Peter

3.71

21 ratings by Goodreads

9781582341996: Fire Mountain: How One Man Survived the World's Worst Volcanic Disaster

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1582341990 ISBN 13: 9781582341996

Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA, 2003

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History, travel writing, and human tragedy collide in a heart-stopping work of narrative nonfiction.

On May 8th, 1902, Mont Pel�e in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, erupted, killing almost 30,000 people instantly and completely destroying the city known as the Paris of the Caribbean. It was a spectacular, biblical, horrifying disaster, without a doubt the most sensational event of its time. Days later, rescue teams heard cries from the rubble and uncovered Ludger Sylbaris, a twenty-seven-year-old laborer who had spent the night of the eruption in jail for his involvement in a bar fight and turned out to be-against all odds-the only known survivor. He was soon world famous, traveling across America as part of Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth.

Using written eyewitness accounts and historical research, Peter Morgan spins this tale and more into a spellbinding narrative. Framed by Martinique's painful history, the disaster reveals layer upon layer of corruption: a French governor more concerned with public image than the safety of his fellow islanders, the moral conflict of a scientist who knew the risks but was told to keep them quiet, and the tangle of colonial attitudes that ultimately caused the death of thousands.

With deft, literary strokes, in a book rich in detail, Peter Morgan delivers all the political intrigue, drama, heroism, and villainy of the greatest suspense novel - and every word is true.

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Review:

"As a miniature study in colonialism and..what happens to enlightened values under duress, his book is hard to beat." -- Financial Times 15th February

"This is historical narrative at its best." -- Waterstone's Book Quarterly, Issue 7 2003

A thrilling narrative bound to win many readers. -- Publishing News

Peter Morgan brings a hectic immediacy to the story, which is illustrated with before and after images of the island. -- Financial Times

Peter Morgan is an able storyteller, giving good detail on the social and political life of the island. -- The Times

About the Author:

Peter Morgan is an award-winning journalist and playwright whose writing has appeared in theGuardian, the Times Literary Supplement, and the New Statesman. He lives in London.

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