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Volcano: Nature And CultureStock informationGeneral Fields
Special Fields
DescriptionFor years, tourists have trekked across cracked rock at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano to witness the awe-inspiring sight of creeping lava and its devastating effects on the landscape. In 2010, Eyjafjallajokull erupted in Iceland, stranding travellers as a cloud of ash covered western and northern Europe, causing the largest disruption of air travel since the Second World War. And just a few months later, Mount Merapi blew in Indonesia, killing over 350 people and displacing over 350,000 others, awakening people once more to the dangerous potential of these sleeping giants. Though today largely dormant, volcanoes continue to erupt across the world, reminding us of their sheer physical power. In Volcano, James Hamilton explores the cultural history generated by the violence and terrifying beauty of volcanoes. He describes the reverberations of early eruptions of Vesuvius and Etna in Greek and Roman myth. Reviews'At last, a series of books on the earth for lay people that combine authoritative, succinct and entertaining narrative with magnificent illustrations. The Earth series will make us marvel anew at the diversity and astounding beauty of the world around us. Each book will take popular understanding of the earth to a new level. No one seriously interested in the future of our planet should be without them.' - Brian M. Fagan, author of The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations 'An arresting collage of mythology, philosophy, literature and spectacular works of visual art inspired by nature's most exuberant phenomenon. Hamilton's unique and imaginative miscellany and cultural geography of volcanoes and volcanology is a veritable treasure trove.' - Clive Oppenheimer Author descriptionJames Hamilton is an art historian and curator. His books include Turner: A Life (1997); Turner and the Scientists (1998), Faraday: The Life (2002) and London Lights: The Minds that Moved the City that Shook the World, 1805 - 51 (2007). He is University Curator and Honorary Reader at the University of Birmingham. |