Suchergebnisse

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Table of Conversions -- 1 Earthquakes: Origins and Consequences -- 2 In the Holy Land: Earthquakes and the Hand of God -- 3 The Decline of Ancient Sparta: A Tale of Hoplites, Helots, and a Quaking Earth -- 4 Earthquakes in England: Echoes in Religion and Literature -- 5 The Great Lisbon Earthquake and the Axiom "Whatever Is, Is Right" -- 6 New Madrid, Missouri, in 1811: The Once and Future Disaster -- 7 Earthquake, Fire, and Politics in San Francisco -- 8 Japan's Great Kanto Earthquake: "Hell Let Loose on Earth" -- 9 Peru in 1970: Chaos in the Andes -- 10 The 1972 Managua Earthquake: Catalyst for Revolution -- Afterword -- Glossary -- Notes and References -- Index

When the volcano Tambora erupted in Indonesia in 1815, as many as 100,000 people perished as a result of the blast and an ensuing famine caused by the destruction of rice fields on Sumbawa and neighboring islands. Gases and dust particles ejected into the atmosphere changed weather patterns around the world, resulting in the infamous ''year without a summer'' in North America, food riots in Europe, and a widespread cholera epidemic. And the gloomy weather inspired Mary Shelley to write the gothic novel Frankenstein. This book tells the story of nine such epic volcanic events, explaining the rel