Vesuvius: A Biography - Couverture rigide

Scarth, Professor Of Geography Alwyn

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0691143900 ISBN 13 : 9780691143903

Editeur : Princeton University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Vesuvius Capricious, vibrant, and volatile, Vesuvius has been and remains one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes. In its rage, it has destroyed whole cities and buried thousands alive. In its calm, its ashes have fertilized the soil, providing for the people who have lived in its shadows. This book tells the story of this natural phenomenon. Full description

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

Now and again a book appears that offers a different perspective on volcanic eruptions. Alwyn Scarth's Vesuvius: A Biography is one such book, and it takes the reader on a fascinating journey through Vesuvius' history seen through the eyes of the people who witnessed the eruptions and who were often directly affected by them. Vesuvius is one of the most hazardous volcanoes in the world, with more than 650,000 people living within 10km of its summit. It is also one of the most famous volcanoes in human history, thanks to the AD79 eruption that destroyed the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The literature is rich in work relating to this volcano, and countless monographs describe its geological life. Here, however, Scarth provides the first widely accessible narrative that expertly combines academic research with contemporary accounts and eyewitness descriptions for all of Vesuvius' recorded eruptions. It is a gripping book; Scarth does an excellent job in exploring the intimate relationship between Vesuvius and the people who have lived on it. He eloquently guides the reader through all the eruptions experienced by its resident population; but instead of employing clinical scientific descriptions, he allows the people who witnessed these events to speak. The beauty of this book is its success in placing Vesuvius and its eruptions in a historical context and in considering the role it has played in human history and the lives of those living on its flanks. --Times Higher Education Supplement

Authoritative, passionate and sparkling, this story of the life and times of the most dangerous volcano in Europe gives genuine geological substance to the famous dictum See Naples and die. From its birth amid colliding tectonic plates a million years or so ago to its inevitable future eruption that portends a modern urban catastrophe, Alwyn Scarth skilfully recasts a brooding menace whose infamy is evident in the ashen ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum into a complex and vibrant character in a volatile drama charting how Neapolitan fortunes have long been intimately entwined with Vesuvius s eruptive fits of temper. Fantastic stuff. --Iain Stewart, geologist and broadcaster

Readers interested in the earth sciences, antiquity or just a good read will find Scarth's book hard to put down. --Publishers Weekly

Alwyn Scarth has produced a meticulously researched yet eminently readable obituary of one of the world's best known geological features and its cultural and social consequences. The simple sketches of the evolving volcanic complexes and the effects of earthquakes and eruptions work well . . . And although not cited in the text, the illustrations closely match the text while the boxed didactic material, together with the useful glossary, provides clear explanations. If one must see Naples and die, Scarth's book is an essential companion. --European Geologist

Alwyn Scarth has produced a meticulously researched yet eminently readable obituary of one of the world's best known geological features and its cultural and social consequences. The simple sketches of the evolving volcanic complexes and the effects of earthquakes and eruptions work well . . . And although not cited in the text, the illustrations closely match the text while the boxed didactic material, together with the useful glossary, provides clear explanations. If one must see Naples and die, Scarth's book is an essential companion. --European Geologist

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Vesuvius is one of the most dangerous volcanoes on Earth. Its story is fascinating - not only its rich geological and geographical history, but also the changing social, religious and intellectual impact that the volcano has always had upon the people living around it. Hence, this book is truly a biography of a formidable and richly colourful living entity.Volcanoes are not passive like other mountains, and Vesuvius has been less passive than most volcanoes. It is the paramount natural feature in the whole region of Campania in southern Italy, and the constant rival of the turbulent city of Naples that lies at its heart. Written with the non-specialist reader in mind, the book will be compelling reading for not only geologists and geographers but also emergency planners and all those fascinated by the dramatic face of the Earth and eager to explore its rich human dimensions as much as its spectacular physical processes.This is a complete history of the relationship between one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world and the many people who live perilously close to it.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Princeton University Press
• Date d'édition: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0691143900
• ISBN 13: 9780691143903
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 352