If you are looking for a book about the San Francisco earthquake, read chapter 10. If you are interested in earthquakes, eclectic information about quakes, and a story that jumps like a conversation, this is it. It is an interesting book with information on seismographs, beliefs about the causes of earthquakes by various groups (before modern understanding of quakes), and how at least one religion got its start because of the San Francisco quake.

I only made it thru half of this book and I'm surprised I held out this long. You would have to be a tremendous geology fan to enjoy this in my opinion.

This is a stellar book which takes a historical event and allows one to see it through the lense of its affect in the USA. For a non-Bay Area the author has an increible insight to the local area and its impact on the world.

Mr. Winchester is not a geologist or even a scientist. Rather he is a journalist whose writing wanders around the 1906 earthquake, declares the evils of capitalism (including an anti-Walmart rant) and delineates a plan for terrorists to blow up the Alaska pipe line. This is geology??

Author has a tendency to go off on tangents many of which barely stay on point. Listening at times is very laborious as the author elaborates on whatever extraneous topic seems to pop into his head. When finished I’m sure you’ll be able to pick up an easy three credits at any university that offers a geology course as the depth of detail covering the evolution of volcanoes as well as tectonic plates is the equal of any text book you’ll find on the subject. There is no connection to any main characters that typically draw the reader into a book so they can truly experience the emotional magnitude of the event as it effects the character.

I've listened to several dozen books from Audible.com -- and dozens of others. This is a dreadful book -- boring, slow, and read poorly. It is the only book I've ever stopped listening to. Don't waste your money, or credit, on this one.

This author is so self-possesed as to drive one crazy. The first hour talks about his drive across America and a camping trip. Not science. Not worth listening to.

Monotone narrator plus a small amount of material on the actual SF earthquake (at least from the human interest perspective) equals BORING!

Horrible and boring. I felt cheated.