In this masterful account of what was then the biggest explosion ever seen on the Earth, Simon Winchester depicts the people, history and events leading up to the cataclysm. The book places the eruption and subsequent destruction of the tiny volcanic island of Krakatoa, off the coast of Java, within a historical context and relates, with ever-growing tension,what finally happened in that fateful August of 1883.
Winchester's research was obviously painstaking, and it is the most closely-observed account of the eruption I have ever read. The level of detail is amazing, and all taken from contemporary accounts. Where this book differs from others on the subject is that by placing the events within the political, social and technological contexts of the Victorian era, we get to know so much more about the significance of the events rather than just reading an account of the eruption itself. You may not agree with some of Winchester's ideas - for example, his contention that one can trace the roots of modern Islamic extremism back to Krakatoa - but they will certainly make you think. Indeed, the book's subtitle - The Day The World Exploded - is apposite if you view Krakatoa as a catalyst of far-reaching changes in Victorian society whose effects are still felt today.
And woven into all of this are the people, brought colourfully and poignantly back to life after so long.We know what will happen to thousands of them, of course - suffocated by poison gases, drowned by 100-foot tsunamis - which makes the account of their lives all the more tragic. When the eruption happened, after months of restless growlings and emissions from the volcano which were, in those days, simply not understood as harbingers of impending doom, its terrified victims had no idea of what was happening to them. And they had little chance of escaping the unimaginable violence which Krakatoa unleashed.
If you want to read a simple account of the events of Krakatoa, this is not for you - indeed, the final cataclysm does not occur until after page 200 of this book - but if you want to understand Krakatoa and its era, this book is a must-have.
And off the coast of Java, the island known as Son of Krakatoa grows ever taller.....
