Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883

In this first US edition, the author of the The Map That Changed the World portrays the 19th-century eruption of a Javanese volcano that still has global repercussions in both historical and scientific contexts. The book includes maps and other illustrations. Published in Great Britain by Viking, 2003. Annotation © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

USA Today

Building thrillerlike suspense, Winchester gives voice to firsthand accounts from scientists, ship captains and local observers of the buildup of volcanic activity that ended so spectacularly. He also presents the men who pieced together geological information, culminating in plate tectonics theory. If you've ever sat through a dry geology lecture, Winchester's human-oriented volcanology will grip you. — Ayesha Court

Journalist Simon Winchester had already published a list of travel and historical titles before a footnote in a book about dictionary-making led him to his tale of a prolific contributor to the gargantuan Oxford English Dictionary. That book, The Professor and the Madman, became a surprise hit -- and made Winchester a leading practitioner of what The New York Times calls cocktail-party science.