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Krakatoa
Krakatoa
Krakatoa
Audiobook12 hours

Krakatoa

Written by Simon Winchester

Narrated by Simon Winchester

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

The bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman and The Map That Changed the World examines the enduring and world-changing effects of the catastrophic eruption off the coast of Java of the earth's most dangerous volcano -- Krakatoa.

The legendary annihilation in 1883 of the volcano-island of Krakatoa -- the name has since become a byword for a cataclysmic disaster -- was followed by an immense tsunami that killed nearly forty thousand people. Beyond the purely physical horrors of an event that has only very recently been properly understood, the eruption changed the world in more ways than could possibly be imagined. Dust swirled round die planet for years, causing temperatures to plummet and sunsets to turn vivid with lurid and unsettling displays of light. The effects of the immense waves were felt as far away as France. Barometers in Bogotá and Washington, D.C., went haywire. Bodies were washed up in Zanzibar. The sound of the island's destruction was heard in Australia and India and on islands thousands of miles away. Most significant of all -- in view of today's new political climate -- the eruption helped to trigger in Java a wave of murderous anti-Western militancy among fundamentalist Muslims: one of the first outbreaks of Islamic-inspired killings anywhere.

Simon Winchester's long experience in the world wandering as well as his knowledge of history and geology give us an entirely new perspective on this fascinating and iconic event as he brings it telling back to life.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateJan 13, 2004
ISBN9780060744045
Krakatoa

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Reviews for Krakatoa

Rating: 3.855275888092933 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,033 ratings78 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Really detailed history of geology of volcanism and the events around the 1883 eruption. Sometimes too heavy as there's a lot of padding of related topics and not as much as you'd expect about the eruption itself, probably from a lack of abundant sources. Still, probably the definitive overview history.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Well written and excellently narrated; the author however has a clear bias toward the “colonization was good and the natives should be grateful” view of history. I wasn’t anticipating such a whitewashed (literally and figuratively) socio-historical lens and it definitely detracted from my experience with the book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    much more historical and textbook-like than 'river at the center of the world' which the author narrated his travels through china. i wish it would have painted more of a picture of java/sumatra culture rather than scientific volcanic research. interesting about the natives and muslims revolting against the dutch colonialists after the eruption
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was such a great book. Very well written. The narrator was equally amazing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A thorough procedural post-mortem on the most famous and destructive volcanic explosion of modern human history.

    An exhaustive survey of the geology, history of plate tectonics, unique culture, social history and media environment and impact of Krakatoa.

    A long, leisurely colorful, and detailed narrative that is pithy and entertaining storytelling. The author takes great care to place events in contemporaneous context with special attention to the media environment of the day. Namely the vigorous newspaper industries freshly juiced up by the telegraph. More specifically by the recently installed undersea communications cables radically accelerating a burgeoning worldwide print/electronic media.

    The depiction of the final explosion is gratifying in detail and granularity, almost elegiac, at least in the magisterial voice of the reader.

    The narrator is adequate and appropriate to the subject but may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent combination of science,political and story-telling by a master.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Also some very good and vivid science writing. This has perhaps the best description and explanation of plate tectonics and suduction and their role in volcano eruptions that I've read anywhere. Winchester clearly loves geology and compels the reader to love it, or at least respect it, too. It may be a bit of a stretch to suggest that Krakatoa's eruption may have influenced the beginnings of fundamentalism in that part of the world, but it does so circumspectly, and the book provides ample evidence on other grounds that Krakatoa was a major global event in its day. Well worth your time.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An excellent story covering both the science and the human drama of the famous explosion of the volcano Krakatoa. Very well read as well.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An intensely interesting book about the most dangerous volcano's most destructive eruption. The 1883 explosion of Krakatoa not only devastated the surrounding region, it sent shock waves and regular waves all around the world. This book explores the history of this monstrous event and all the scientific advances that have been made because of it. Weather forecasting, geology, and botany owe much to this unique historical happening.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A lot of everything but Little on the volcano itself
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Started off 2023 with a book that has been on my shelf for years and an author that I've never read, despite his popularity and many available books. And I really enjoyed it. As is evidenced by the title, this is a nonfiction work about the explosion of Krakatoa, a volcano between Sumatra and Java. This happened in 1883 and was one of the first major natural disasters that happened when global communication was possible through telegraphs. There were also enough scientific instruments in place to really get a handle on some of the repercussions of the eruption. Krakatoa's explosion was so violent that the entire volcano disappeared under the ocean. The explosion was heard 3000 miles away and the shock waves circled the entire globe 7 times! Almost 40,000 people died. Winchester goes through what we know about plate tectonics and volcanoes in clear and informative words. He also gives good insight into the Dutch colonization of Java and how the eruption began to change the island and Dutch rule. I was also really interested in what happened to the immediate surroundings of a new volcano springing up near Krakatoa and how life returned to the islands. The book is not highly technical and it's obviously intended for the curious layperson. It's very readable nonfiction and probably won't satisfy anyone with a lot of expertise in the topic, but for me it hit just the right note. Sort of like watching a history channel hour long documentary but reading it instead.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very good book! I found it to be very interesting. My only complaint was that it hopped back and forth a little jarringly between history and science but I was very interested by it all nonetheless.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    “Explosions like a battery of guns are heard… The lighthouse… is hit by a wave and destroyed, ripped off its base, leaving only an amputated stump of jagged masonry. An immense wave then leaves Krakatoa at almost exactly 10:00 A.M. – and then, two minutes later, according to all the instruments that record it, came the fourth and greatest explosion of them all, a detonation that was heard thousands of miles away and that is still said to be the most violent explosion ever recorded and experienced by modern man. The cloud of gas and white-hot pumice, fire, and smoke is believed to have risen… as many as twenty-four miles into the air.” – Simon Winchester, Krakatoa

    Krakatoa lies in the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java, in current-day Indonesia. Winchester visited the area many years ago and returned recently to climb Anak Krakatoa, the ever-growing newest incarnation of the volcano that has arisen from the sea at the same location as the one destroyed in 1883. (Yes, he actually climbed the volcano and peered into its caldera.) He was inspired to research and document the history of Krakatoa and describe the cyclical process of rejuvenation.

    This book is a delightful mix of history, science, and sociology. Winchester provides a comprehensive look at the time period, what led up to the disaster, the tremendous explosion itself, and the resulting impact on the people and the environment. He also discusses political and biological aftermath in the area, some of which is surprising.

    The history of the period is examined in depth. Winchester covers the advances in telecommunications that enabled the story to be reported quickly rather than the two weeks in took in the past. He covers such history as the Dutch colonial rule of the area, natural resources, shipping methods, commerce, and past eruptions. He makes a case for Krakatoa as the beginning of the idea of the earth as a “global village.”

    It helps to have a strong interest in science, as Winchester goes into a detailed explanation of the scientific factors behind the disaster – plate tectonics, tsunamis, seismology, continental drift, subduction zones, and more. It is a thorough analysis – not for someone that wants the high-level overview. It is more oriented toward those that like to uncover the interconnections among seemingly discrete topics.

    This book is not a typical “disaster story,” though it does include eye-witness accounts and the extent of devastation. It does not tell the story by focusing on particular people and where they were. It is more focused on why the event occurred. The narrative does not arrive at the catastrophic explosion until the half-way point. If I have to pick a minor blemish, the sub-title does not convey the breadth of the book. It is much more extensive than what happened on a single day.

    Winchester tells the story in an erudite, engrossing, and educational manner. He excels at putting the event into its historical context. This book is well-researched – it includes an extensive bibliography and footnotes that are as interesting to read as the text. It contains all the elements I look for in non-fiction. I found it absolutely mesmerizing.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The title and subtitle say it all. First, we are presented with the geology of that part of the world, Indonesia, at that time the Dutch East Indies, and the geological discoveries of plate tectonics and subduction in the 1960s. Then a history of the region with the Dutch taking over. Then followed descriptions from various eyewitness accounts, of what happened before, during, and after the explosion of Krakatoa. The island itself completely disappeared, and several new small ones came into existence. Although only 5th on the Volcanic Explosive Index [VEI], Krakatoa affected the whole world and climate though widespread atmospheric dust. Some of the famous artists of the day painted landscapes with Krakatoa-affected sunsets in their unusual coloration. For example, there was: F.E. Church's "Sunset over the ice on Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario", a beautiful, almost abstract painting with unusual coloration. Why did this explosion happen? Basically, plate tectonics--two plates had been rubbing against each other for thousands of years and this rubbing finally culminated in this explosion. This was the first news item reported around the world after a tiny few lines first reported on an inner newspaper page. A fascinating study and delightfully written.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    1.5 starsKrakatoa is a volcano that erupted in 1883. I think it has erupted many(?) times since then. Can’t tell much more about this, as I (unfortunately) listened to the audio. It was a male British voice (the author), so I recognized immediately that I was in trouble. I was bored. It didn’t hold my interest at all. It did seem to start with a lot of historical information about the area (Java, Sumatra). Beyond that, I think it took a long time to get to the volcano, but even then, I wasn’t really listening. For some reason, he went on about Islam at the end, though I’m unsure as to why. Despite listening to the entire thing, I’m having to read other summaries and reviews to find out what happened.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A marvelous multi-disciplinary account of the science, history, and continuing impact of the 5th worst volcanic eruption ever recorded. Very informative and, for a book about a major international disaster, it is surprisingly hopeful. Winchester has written another winner!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I read this for the "A Character With A Career You Wish You Had" part of my 2019 reading challenge. I found it pretty slow and I didn't care for a lot of the sections, which surprised me because I really enjoyed reading it the first time a few years ago. It was still extremely educational and I would love to go visit the area one day.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I felt obligated to read this, as it was a gift. Winchester comes across as lazy. He includes digression after digression, not because they are particularly interesting or relevant, but because they are easily told stories that don't need significant research. Despite being overly long, this book is extremely shallow. The writing is padded, and often poor. > There are volcanoes here in these mid-crustal ridges, big but not especially explosive volcanoes, mountains that ooze basalt, like those in Hawaii and Iceland, the Azores and the rift valleys of East Africa. They are the stuff of research and fascination in their own right. But they are the distaff side of the volcano of this account, the Alpha to Krakatoa's Omega, the mid-plate reciprocal to all that goes on at the plates' edges, the other side of the story.I most enjoyed the portion on how life returned to the new Krakatoan islands.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was interesting to learn about life before and after the explosion. A very detailed and scholarly account of an event that impacted the world. I am looking forward to reading more of Simon Winchester's works.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Absolutely top-notch account of the great 1883 volcanic eruption, which walks a reader not only through what happened, but why it happened. There is also a choice and generous selection of illustrations, and an enormous pile of informative asides buried in the footnotes. You come away from the book with a much better understanding of what happened. Very highly recommended, possibly one of Winchester's best.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    August 1883. Events happening on a tiny island in the Sunda Strait between the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java were about to dramatically change the world. On the morning of August 27 the volcanic island of Krakatoa erupted in an earth-shattering explosion. Krakatoa’s eruption was dramatic on many scales. Tsunami and volcanic ash devastated many of the villages that sat on the coastline of the Sunda Strait on both Java and Sumatra. In the capital of the Dutch colony Batavia (present day Jakarta) day turned into night from ash. The sound of Krakatoa’s explosion was heard in Bangkok, Manila, Perth, and Rodriguez Island - nearly 3000 miles from its source! The pressure wave caused by the eruption displaced barometers in dozens of fashionable gentlemen’s clubs across Europe and was later found to have traveled around the globe at least seven times! Once it was over nothing but two small islands remained of the once mighty volcanic island. Krakatoa was the largest volcanic eruption in recorded human history and the recent connection of many countries by telegraph cable made it one of the first truly global events. Winchester takes the reader on a wonderful journey, looking not only at the eruption of the volcano but also at the events that shaped the world at the time of the eruption. Winchester’s story focuses on the geology of Krakatoa and on the history of Indonesia and the lasting effects of Dutch colonization. The book begins with a look at the history of Indonesia. The islands of Indonesia, that today make up the most populous Islamic country in the world, were key to the ambitions of European countries during the height of the Colonial Era due to the riches brought by its spices – pepper, clove, and nutmeg, what Winchester calls the “holy trinity of the Asian spice trade.” Winchester’s back-story and history of colonization set the stage for the dramatic events of 1883. Through this set-up the reader learns a great deal of geology. Indonesia sits at one of the crucial sites found on our Earth, located at a junction between two tectonic plates. To the south sits the Australian plate that is traveling north and subducting under the Eurasian plate. The results create one of the most tectonic and volcanically active regions on Earth. Winchester takes the reader through the thought processes that led to the unifying theory of geology, plate tectonics, and is the key to understanding how and why Krakatoa erupted. As in Winchester’s other books his style is straightforward and easy to read. For many readers the thought of reading a book that covers both geology and history may seem daunting and dry, but Winchester envelopes the reader with a rich and vibrant writing style combined with over 50 illustrations, maps, and photos that keeps you turning page after page. We experience the eruption of Krakatoa from many perspectives, those of sailors traveling through the Sunda Strait at the time of the eruption, to colonial administrators living along the Straits. We are immersed in the lives of those people that experienced the eruption first hand and those that struggled to interpret and study the volcano’s activities. In the end Winchester takes us up to the summit of Anak Krakatoa – the child of Krakatoa, the volcano reborn from the sea to experience the rebirth of this amazing island first hand. I highly recommend Krakatoa, The Day the World Exploded to anybody interested in geology, or history, or with a passion for both (like me). You will come away with a deeper understanding of the geology of plate tectonics and the area of the Java Trench as well as the history of Indonesia and how events on a small island on the morning of August 27, 1883 started us down a path to a connected, global community.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    So much I didn't know - from science to global politics of the 19th century. What a terrifying ordeal and how fascinating that it was really the first time in human history that people could connect with a swiftness that helped explain global phenomena. I am consistently amazed and thrilled with Mr. Winchester's broad and encompassing histories.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    History and significance of a natural disaster.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Listening to this book was a great way to learn history -- not generally one of my favorite subjects. I didn't know anything about Krakatoa except that the the volcano's exlosion is considered the loudest sound ever produced on earth. Simon Winchester, who wrote and read the book, weaves in the history of the Spice Islands, eventually focusing on the Dutch trading centers near Krakatoa. He describes the volcano's activity leading up to the ultimate event, shares many first-hand accounts of it, and describes the communication technologies at the time and how news of the explosion reached other parts of the world. It was a boon to scientists, who studied the eruption and its aftermath; meteorology and geology in particular made major gains. The art world was also influenced as sunsets were particularly vivid for a long time afterwards and were a subject for many painters, one of whom created hundreds of images each evening, creating a sort of time lapse record of what the skies looked like. The Royal Geological Society in England got into the act, inviting people from around the world to write to them with information about their experience of the event, which resulted in thousands of letter, all of which were recorded and catalogued. There were widespread tsunamis whose devastation was far greater than anything else that's been recorded. All in all, it provided a fascinating view of the specific event and the world in 1883. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent combination of science,political and story-telling by a master.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not exactly a page turner, but still a very interesting read. Read while I'm on Sumatra working w/ the orangutans....Am headed to lake Toba next weekend, the site of the world's largest volcanic explosion, followed by Tambora (also in Indonesia) and then Krakatoa. An explosive region, to say the least....The book is insightful both in a cultural/historical sense and in a natural history sense as well. The writing does tend towards redundancy, however....Maybe a visit to Krakatoa is in my future here?????
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Winchester's exploration of Krakatoa and the history of volcanic activity in its region is fascinating and wide-ranging, undertaking a careful examination of the ways in which volcanoes and plate tectonics have come to be understood over the course of history and science while looking at Krakatoa's massive eruption of 1883--and the far-reaching consequences. Whether a reader comes to the work with an eye toward better understanding society at the time of the eruption and its direct effects, or even the technological, scientific, or spiritual (yep, spiritual) ripples that ranged out after Krakatoa's explosion, it's hard to imagine a reader will be disappointed.Absolutely, I'd recommend this one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really liked this book. Winchester's style was enjoyable and I felt like I learned quite a bit in several areas. I wasn't really sure what to expect from Winchester's work. I haven't read any of his other books and, besides a few biographies, I'm not a huge nonfiction reader. I really wanted to change that this year which was why this was moved up my TBR list and I'm glad it was.

    It did feel like there was some heavy repetition in areas. Both in information and in how the author phrased certain things. However, I don't feel like it took too much away from the overall feel of the project. Plus, you can tell, even in these areas, that Winchester has a lot of passion for his subject and it's this passion that keeps you hooked.

    I do think the topic-hopping style might annoy some readers who are looking for a more pinpointed read. However, those that enjoy the info plunge of various subjects and the culmination of such will definitely enjoy this book. I think Winchester struck a pretty good balance between personality and really getting into the grit of his subject.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A lot of back story, but it all comes together to depict an extra-ordinary event of the loudest explosion in modern history. Aptly portrays the Era and the people.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had little knowledge about Krakatoa, other than the general idea that it was a volcano that erupted in the 19th century, prior to this book. Simon Winchester does a good job of discussing what happened in what is now Indonesia, the geological science behind it, and the ongoing social effects and ramifications, which still impact the modern world. This is a very readable account and recommended for those who like their history with a bit of disaster.