Editorial Review:
Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard, 2nd Edition, comprehensively describes the nature and process of tsunami formation, outlines field evidence for detecting the presence of past events, and describes notable events linked to earthquakes, volcanoes, submarine landslides, and comet impacts. The author provides a clear approach to the study of tsunami, through dynamics, impact on coastlines, and overviews of the various major mechanisms of tsunami generation. Liberal case studies and examples highlight the significance of this underrated natural hazard for coastal societies. In particular, Dr Bryant studies in detail the great tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004, making it one of the largest natural disasters to occur in recorded history. The book is divided into four parts. Part I considers tsunami as a known hazard, starting in Chapter 1 with legends and stories and questioning whether they are scientific fact or legend. Dr Bryant looks at the causes of tsunami, their distribution and fatalities in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand and Australia as well as in bays, fjords, inland seas and lakes. Chapter 2 studies the dynamics of tsunami, their characteristics, the wave theory and the run-up and inundation. In Part II tsunami-formed landscapes are examined, showing both the depositional and erosional signatures of tsunami in the coastal landscape, including chevrons and dune bedforms. The coastal landscape evolution is looked at in Chapter 4, comparing catastrophism against uniformitarianism and tsunami versus storms. Examples and types of coastal landscapes created by tsunami, particularly in Australia, Grand Cayman, the Bahamas and Chilean coast are also given. Part III looks at the main causes of tsunami: earthquakes, great landslides, volcanic eruptions and comets and meteorites. The modern risk of tsunami is covered in Part IV, detailing locations and avoidance, including warning systems. Dr Bryant ends this unique study of a fascinating subject with five stories of different tsunamis.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Time for a New Edition  2005-03-29
I purchased this book in 2004 for it's original retail price of US$27.95. Now I see used copies selling for more than $300 on amazon.com. This book is a terrific analysis of what we now know, as the sub-title 'The Underrated Hazard' suggests, an extraordinarily prescient work outlining the causes and historical occurences of one of the earth's more destructive natural phenomenon, tsunamis.
Please, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, encourage Mr. Bryant to update this extraordinarily informative book with an analyse of the earthquake and tsunami of December 26, 2004.
A Good Read on the Subject But Fairly Technical  2002-04-18
In a lot of science books written for the general reader, the complaint is that the material is sensationalistic and over-simplified. Edward Bryant almost errs in the other direction. His evidence that very large Tsunami have played a key role in shaping many coastal regions is extremely well-presented and will contain lots of new information for even dedicated followers of Earth Science news.On the other hand, while reading information about landscapes re-arranged by truly massive "mega-tsunami," one sometimes longs for livelier prose. The book may also be something of a slog now and then for people with no background in Earth Science. I would recommend this book highly to anyone with a serious interest in the subject, and certainly to anyone who needs to consider tsunami from a policy-making point of view.
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