Book Review: Krakatoa by Simon Winchester

The explosion of the volcano at Krakatoa, Java, on August 27, 1883, was loud enough to be heard on Rodriguez Island in the Indian Ocean 2968 miles away. The eruption was the fifth largest known volcanic explosion in human history, and it caused the greatest loss of life of any known volcanic disaster. More than 40,000 people were killed, mostly by a series of massive tsunamis. One of these waves drove the Dutch gunship Berouw over a mile and a half up a river, killing all aboard.

Simon Winchester tells the story of the disaster from both the historical and geological perspectives. The explosion was not just a geological cataclysm. It was one of the very first truly global news stories, and it marked the beginning of the end of Dutch rule, and the first stirrings of militant Islam in East Asia.

Winchester provides a host of fascinating details as he traces the weeks and days leading up the the explosion, as well as the background of the Dutch presence in Java and the development of plate tectonics, the theory that finally allowed scientists to understand the mechanism of subduction zone volcanoes like Krakatoa.

He also follows the aftermath of the eruption. The island of Krakatoa itself was obliterated in the blast, but a new volcanic island has risen from the sea, and has provided scientists with a natural laboratory to study a rare instance of primary succession.

Winchester does a nice job of mixing the historical and scientific details surrounding this literally Earth-shaking event.