A complete and authentic account of the terrible calamity that befell the city of the Golden Gate, stricken by earthquake and devasted by fire. Described and penned by eye-witnesses and those who worked to relieve the suffering. A vivid account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and other great historical catastrophes which have destroyed thousands of lives and laid whole countries in ruin.

Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei, and Campanian Volcanism communicates the state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on past and active volcanism in an area characterized by elevated risk due to high-density population. Eruptions, lahars and poisonous gas clouds have killed many thousands of people over recorded history, but volcanoes have given people some of the most fertile soil known in agriculture. The research presented in this book is useful for policymakers and researchers from these and other countries who are looking for risk assessment and volcanic evolution models they can apply to similar situations around the world. Naples and its surrounding area, in particular, the area situated between Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei volcanic area has a population in excess of 4 million people. The volcanic areas that have similarly large populations in proximity to dormant, but hazardous volcanoes, i.e., Indonesia and Central America can also benefit from this work.

The beast beneath the mountain is restless... No one in the bustling city of Pompeii worries when the ground trembles beneath their feet. The beast under the mountain Vesuvius, high above the city, wakes up angry sometimes -- and always goes back to sleep.But Marcus is afraid. He knows something is terribly wrong -- and his father, who trusts science more than mythical beasts, agrees. When Vesuvius explodes into a cloud of fiery ash and rocks fall from the sky like rain, will they have time to escape -- and survive the epic destruction of Pompeii?

The volcano that has fascinated scientists, writers, and poets for two millennia Capricious, vibrant, and volatile, Vesuvius has been and remains one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes. In its rage, it has destroyed whole cities and buried thousands alive. In its calm, its ashes have fertilized the soil, providing for the people who have lived in its shadows. For over two millennia, the dynamic presence of this volcano has fascinated scientists, artists, writers, and thinkers, and inspired religious fervor, Roman architecture, and Western literature. In Vesuvius, Alwyn Scarth draws from the latest research, classical and eyewitness accounts, and a diverse range of other sources to tell the riveting story of this spectacular natural phenomenon. Scarth follows Vesuvius across time, examining the volcano's destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D., its eruptions during the Counter-Reformation that were viewed as God's punishment of sinners, and the building of the world's first volcano observatory on Vesuvius in the 1840s. Scarth explores the volcano's current position overlooking a population of more than three million people and the complex attitudes maintained by the residents, at once reverent, protective, and fearful. He also considers the next major eruption of Vesuvius, which experts have indicated could be the most powerful since 1631. The longer Vesuvius remains dormant, the more violent its reawakening will be, and despite scientific advances for predicting when this might occur, more people are vulnerable than ever before. Exploring this celebrated wonder from scientific, historical, and cultural perspectives, Vesuvius provides a colorful portrait of a formidable force of nature.

Volcanoes around the world have their own legends, and many have wrought terrible devastation, but none has caught the imagination like Vesuvius. We now know that immense eruptions destroyed Bronze Age settlements around Vesuvius, but the Romans knew nothing of those disasters and were lulled into complacencyÑmuch as we are todayÑby its long period of inactivity. None of the nearly thirty eruptions since AD 79 has matched the infamous cataclysm that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum within hours. Nearly two thousand years later, the allure of the volcano remainsÑas evidenced by its popularity as a tourist attraction, from Shelley and the Romantics to modern-day visitors. Vesuvius has loomed large throughout history, both feared and celebrated. Gillian Darley unveils the human responses to Vesuvius from a cast of characters as far-flung as Pliny the Younger and Andy Warhol, revealing shifts over time. This cultural and scientific meditation on a powerful natural wonder touches on pagan religious beliefs, vulcanology, and travel writing. Sifting through the ashes of Vesuvius, Darley exposes how changes in our relationship to the volcano mirror changes in our understanding of our cultural and natural environments.