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Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded |
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Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded
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Manufacturer: Viking
Author: Simon Winchester
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: 2003-05-06
Publisher: Viking
Label: Viking
Number Of Pages: 448
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Editorial Review:
The most terrifying and destructive volcanic cataclysm in modern recorded history took place in August 1883, when a series of incredibly powerful detonations destroyed the landmark island of Krakatoa, in the Sunda Strait, five miles off the western tip of Java. The impact of the explosions was utterly destructive in the immediate region, destorying 200 Javan villages and 40,000 people. The explosions had a dramatic effect that was felt and heard for thousands of miles, over fully ten per cent of the earth's surface - in central Australia, in East Africa, in India and in China. Ships sailing as far away as the Red Sea were covered with thick volcanic ash and immense rafts of pumice, some big enough to support trees and animals, floated in the seas clear across to Africa. Even more amazingly, the explosions were experienced around the whole world - by way of a substantial ten year burst of global warming - by the brilliance of sunsets and by the presence of fine suspended ash in the air. Using contemporaneous reports, this text recounts the events that led up to the cataclysm, as well as those occurring immediately after. Above all, Simon Winchester writes about how the Americans, English, Chinese and Dutch - and also the Javanese and Sumatrans to whom this land belonged - dealt with the unforgettable events of the day that their world exploded.
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Customer Reviews
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A wide-ranging history ...  2009-01-04
While leading up to the catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa, Simon Winchester goes to great lengths describing the cultural and economic history of Sumatra and Java and the geology of plate tectonics and the volcanic activity of the Pacific Rim. I found Winchester's accounts well-written and engaging but, as several reviewers have succinctly noted, those interested in a more direct account of the 1883 eruption should look elsewhere.
While I enjoyed the author's narrative, the publisher's niggardly approach to illustrating the work has detracted significantly from its value. The public-domain portraits, drawings, and sketches complement the text nicely, but the maps are quite another matter. Few of them appear to apply directly to the written text and the labels often don't correspond to events described or even those on other maps. The book's first map, for example, shows the land masses of Southeast Asia with China, Burma, Laos, Sumatra, Java, Australia, and the Philippines labeled. Krakatoa is not depicted. The second map shows Java and Sumatra and several islands between them; Krakatoa is one of them but, unlike some of the islands, is unlabeled. The third map is of three islands in the Krakatoa group, but, because the topography of Krakatoa changed with each subsequent eruption, the outline doesn't match any of the islands on the previous map. The third map is labeled, but some of the archaic spellings do not correspond to those in Winchester's text. This is typical throughout the book.
What's the matter with this publisher? Would it really cost that much to draw maps that correlate with Winchester's text and with each other -- or at least add meaningful labels to the maps they find on the shelf?
Winchester has written an outstanding history, but some readers may find that a good desk atlas or printouts from Wikipedia or Google Earth will enhance their enjoyment of it.
Wonderful Writing on a Fascinating Subject  2009-01-01
It is rare that someone combines scientific expertise with great writing talent that takes in, not only the scientific part of a topic, but also the human part. Simon Winchester is that rare person. In the pages of this absorbing tale, you learn the geology behind the explosive eruption of the volcanic island Krakatoa in 1883, an event so loud it was heard 3000 miles away, so disastrous that the tsumanis it spawned swept away villages, people, and ships that happened to be in the Sunda Straits at the time.
But you get so much more than just fascinating information about the earth's geology and the formation and fate of an island located over a subduction zone. You get a history lesson about the Dutch East Indies and a city called Batavia (now Jakarta, capital of Indonesia). You learn how the Dutch kicked out the Portuguese and claimed these islands of Java, Sumatra, and other islands in the archipelago. You learn that black pepper grows on these islands and about the trading routes that were established to bring this and other spices back to Europe.
Here is a history of the exploration of these islands, including the observations of one Alfred Russel Wallace, who noted the flora and fauna were different on different parts of this island zone. A disciple of Darwin, Wallace studied the islands extensively and finally drew an imaginary line separating the two distinct types of life occupying the islands. This became known as "The Wallace Line." Years later, with the doctrine of plate tectonics, the reasons for this distinction became known. The crashing together of dissimilar plates was the reason for the many volcanoes in the region and the reason there were different kinds of animals and plants on either side of the Wallace Line.
The author takes you inside the colonial city of Batavia and introduces you to some of its residents. He takes you up to the first warning signs from Krakatoa in May of 1883, when rumbles and smoke and ash fall covered a great area around the Sunda Straits, but no one saw that the mountain was not finished roaring. One enterprising boat owner actually took tourists to the island to see where all the belching had come from. The island continued sending out streams of hot smoke and raining pumice on everything in the vicinity off and on until the day of doom, August 27, when Krakatoa spewed out so much material it reduced itself, formerly a good-sized island with three volcanic peaks, to a small piece of land with half of one peak left. It had blown itself to bits.
The Sunda Straits, the water passageway between Java and Sumatra, was completely changed, and the entire earth enjoyed beautiful sunsets for years afterwards. People living in areas that did not suffer any death and destruction began to realize that the earth is a small place and what happens in one corner can affect the entire planet. This was a new idea.
Islands rose and disappeared in the aftermath. It wasn't until 1928 that an island rose from the water where the main part of Krakatoa had been. There were four different risings and erodings back under the waves until a piece of land remained and began a steady growth and became "Anak Krakatoa" (Son of Krakatoa). If you do an internet search, you can find pictures of this young island. The story of life returning to the new island is a wonderful lesson of "life finds a way." First spiders and insects, then grasses and plants, then ground-nesting birds, then marine animals and on and on until you have a complete stable ecosystem that will last until the next time Krakatoa announces its need to relieve pressure and teaches us these lessons all over again.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as will anyone who wants to know more about the world we live in and how it got that way.
Excellent book 2008-12-18
In grad school in the early 1980s I had a professor whose lectures unfailingly transported us around the world and across the centuries, integrating what theretofore had seemed to be at best only loosely connected places, people, events, and ideas. Every lecture was a gem. Simon Winchester's book, Krakatoa, is intellectually satisfying in the exact same way. I listened to the audio CD version four or five times, and recommend it unhesitatingly.
Read About a "World Event" 2008-11-08
In "Krakatoa" author Simon Winchester examines the great explosion of August 27, 1883 from all angles, including historical, scientific, social, political and religious. He starts by explaining the social structure in the Dutch East Indies at the time. He then goes on to explain the scientific explanations for what happened and why. A fascinating portion is the story of the scientific studies which recorded the effects of the blast including water waves thousands of miles away and the air wave which circled the globe seven times during the first fifteen days. As the book progresses he impact the blast had on the natives and Europeans living in the area. He eventually suggests that the rise in Muslim devotion in the Dutch East Indies may have been the result of a fundamentalist turn to Allah after the catastrophe. The book ends by chronicling the volcanic activity and the island at the site of Krakatoa in the years since the explosion.
Krakatoa was the first major natural catastrophe to occur after the network of underground cables united the world. This made it a "World Event" which has fascinated readers ever since. I had long heard of Krakatoa and appreciate the opportunity to gain a better understanding it and its implications. It raised an interest in other scientific histories and the history of the Dutch East Indies. A book than can do that merits a recommendation.
Winchester misfires  2008-08-03
Gratuitous slaps at creation science didn't help to positively influence my opinion of this book, but ultimately this book just wasn't as well-written as expected from Winchester, renowned as he is for his popular scientific treatments such as
--The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary
--A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906
The book takes too long to get going with too many side trails from the main subject that are only marginally interesting.
In the side trails that are of interest, we learn that
--amateur weather observers indulging in their newly-popular pastime helped record the shock waves that circled the globe seven times after the explosion.
--the explosion is believed to be the loudest ever in human history, and was heard nearly 3,000 miles away.
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