Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded

WINCHESTER, Simon

ISBN 10: 0066212855 / ISBN 13: 9780066212852

Published by HarperCollins, U.S.A., 2003

About this Item

The book Ccnsiders the global impact of the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, documenting its cause of an immense tsunami that killed 40,000 people, its impact on the weather for several years, and its role in anti-Western Islamic fundamentalism. xvi, 416 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm. Book is bright, clean and unmarked, very nearly 'as new', except for a very small date/name to the ffep, and, 'Indonesia' written on the wrapper. The pictorial hardcover does not have a standard, full-size dustjacket but rather one two-thirds the regular size, like a 'band/wrapper'. This copy is Fine and unclipped. NB - Postal Rates shown by ABE are frequently incorrect and are vague estimates NOT guaranteed rates. WE use Canada Post, the United States Postal Service and Asendia and try to offer very competitive postal charges - based on actual costs, no overcharging. Images are available. Shipped well packed. USA postage is usually $6.50. Canadian postage varies considerably depending on weight and destination. Postage to anywhere within Canada, can now be approx US$15.00 for weights up to 5kg total - boxed, insured, trackable and faster than regular parcels. Less will be charged if rates indicate. NOW available - new, considerably lower Trans-Canada rates for many markets, and, new, considerably lower rates for Overseas destinations.

Seller Inventory # 059666

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded
• Publisher: HarperCollins, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0066212855
• ISBN 13: 9780066212852
• Binding: Pictorial Boards
• Edition: First USA Printing
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Weight: 740 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • History - General
  • Asia

About this title

Synopsis

Considers the global impact of the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, documenting its cause of an immense tsunami that killed some 40,000 people, its impact on the weather for several years, and its role in anti-Western Islamic fundamentalism. 200,000 first printing. $200,000 ad/promo.

Review

In Krakatoa Simon Winchester, author of The Map That Changed the World and The Professor and the Madman, focuses his considerable research powers on one of the most cataclysmic events of modern history: the volcanic eruption, in 1883, of the South East Asian island of Krakatoa, which resulted in the deaths of 36,000 people and sent shock-waves around the world. But what at the time was a mysterious, almost supernatural phenomenon has become, under the precepts of the contemporary science of plate tectonics, explicable if no less tragic.

Winchester veers between eyewitness accounts by survivors and the limited scientific measurements of the time in an attempt to describe the indescribable. The event "is still said to be the most violent explosion ever recorded and experienced by modern man", he writes. "Six cubic miles of rock had been blasted out of existence, had been turned into pumice and ash and uncountable billions of particles of dust." Yet words and numbers can barely hint at the scale of the calamity, which resulted in tsunamis that washed whole villages into the ocean and forever changed the very topography of the area.

The author also explores the social and cultural topography, noting that "Orthodox Islam, its revival in part triggered by tragic events such as the great cataclysm, was totally transformed in Java during the nineteenth century, with fundamentalism, militancy and profound hostility to non-Muslims its watchwords". At times Winchester seems to overstate his case, and the link he finds between Krakatoa and the rise of anti-Western sentiment in the Islamic world isn't especially convincing. But by weaving together the disaster with science, communications, politics, religion and economics, he has come up with a comprehensive and often fascinating glimpse into the way the world, and our perception of it, can change in an instant. --Shawn Conner, Amazon.ca