Krakatoa

The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883

By: Simon Winchester

Narrated by: Simon Winchester

Length: 12 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

The best-selling 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 40,000 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, DC, 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.

©2003 Simon Winchester (P)2003 HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Thrilling, comprehensive, literate, meticulously researched and scientifically accurate....It is one of the best books ever written about the history and significance of a natural disaster." (The New York Times Book Review)

"If you're looking for drama, you'll certainly find it here....Winchester manages a dry and ironic delivery, very much in keeping with his writing style. But the main point of interest when the dust has settled is the far-flung ramifications of this eruption upon world events. This is a winner." (AudioFile)

"All readers, science-prone or not, will be delighted by this experience-expanding book." (Booklist)

Great True Story!

Would you consider the audio edition of Krakatoa to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version.

What did you like best about this story?

It was so interesting to learn about the epic scale of this eruption.

Simon Winchester's best.

excellent research, beautifully narrated,

I hope to listen too many more. I feel I should get academic credit for listening to this book

Excellent book

I really learned a lot of history and geology that I never knew before. It was fascinating all the way through.

Explosive

Fantastic experience. Facts woven within facts. Great historical adventure. Repeat listen a must. Engaging reader.

Thorough!

If you want a book that discusses everything from plate tectonics, animal migration, 19th Century Dutch trading posts, global wind and climate patterns, and every single eyewitness account of events associated with Krakatoa--no matter how mundane, this is the book!
Overall, while I found some of the scientific linkages interesting, I felt the author was mired too far down in the details and could have gotten to his key points in a much more succinct manner. His narration was fine, for me the only thing that made this book tedious after a while was the excruciating detail.

Interesting subject and an excellent narrator.

Mr. Winchester does it again. Filled with incidental facts and in depth stories, this book delivers loads of information without feeling like a lecture. Krakatoa is an ongoing story, as it lives and is growing again. Simon Winchester uses his masterful voice to good effect, and leaves us with a greater understanding of the capricious power of nature that we all live under and with. I enjoyed this book very much and recommend it to all who love history and science.

Great Book!

Beautifully told. He mentions Frederick Church's painting whose sky was inspired by the afterglow from Nov to Mar. Not mentioned is the sky in the famous painting "The Scream" which was also inspired by that same sky effect seen worldwide, despite having been painted a decade later (see Sky and Telescope magazine a month or two ago).

Mostly dull

I love history books, it's all I read and when I see something new I never knew about show up I generally jump on it. This was part of those buy 2 get 1 free deals so I took a chance, based on the positive reviews, and picked this book up without knowing anything about the author or the subject.

Well... I have no idea why this book has such good ratings, it's just flat out dull. I learned a while back when listening to books if I listen at 1.25x speed my mind tends not to drift as much if I hit a slow part of a book, it helps me keep my attention on what I'm listening without sounding bad. Well in this book, the 1.25x speed trick didn't work, I was just bored for much of the book.

I still gave the book 3 stars since in parts it is interesting, and when it gets into a flow it did hold my interest and I really enjoyed it - but then it would just slam on the breaks with needless filler.

So in closing I'm not a fan of this book, it's not awful by any means, it's just dull and way too long with way too much filler. I love long history books WHEN they keep the story moving, this one just felt like an author trying to meet a word count and throwing in every detail they could find no matter how uninteresting it is.

The reader is OK, not bad, not good, just OK.

Easily The Best Reason Why There Is Audible

The name Krakatoa has a air of mystery about it and in August 1883 it revealed itself to the world as one of the most terrifying volcanic activity producing the loudest sound ever shock waves around the world seven times and destruction
Simon Winchester and his incredible words and descriptions tells of what lead to this cataclysm deft written and spoken by Mr.Winchester it engaged the listener into the true force of Mother Nature easily one of the best audiobooks I've heard and given time will listen to it again Ten Stars!!!!!!

It was OK. I think it would be a better read.

This book just didn't float my boat. I have a degree in Geology, but I just didn't enjoy this as an audible. Maybe I could follow it better if I read the book and not as and audible.