Rating: 
Summary: Flawed, but Overall, Very Good
Review: It still captures the imagination after 120 years: the volcano Krakatoa erupted, killing more than 36,000 people. The resulting volcanic ash caused a frightening drop in temperatures all around the world. That wasn't all: it also caused tidal waves that nearly drowned Java and Sumatra, and produced a sonic boom that was heard for a 3,000 mile radius. It even colored global sun rises and sun sets. Such a catastrophe not of human making is comparable to some of the calamities that caused massive, worldwide extinctions.If there is one fault to this fascinating report, it is in not concentrating on the vision of the actual eruption of the volcano. Simon Winchester has access to transcripts of eye-witness accounts, as well as the global journalist coverage, so his account is vivid, yet seems somewhat anti-climactic. I was a little disappointed. This should have been the culmination of the horror and emotion described previously in such length (and eloquence), but the story somehow fails to peak, and instead, just crumbles a little and slips away. Having access to diaries of people who ran for the hills, and barely escaped with their lives, Winchester should, one would think, find a truly dramatic and stirring denouement well within his reach. Many people ran and endured horrors, yet were still in the end, overcome by the continued fallout, and there is little of this kind of sustained terror described. Winchester has an engaging narrative voice, all the same, and the less graphic parts of the book, the political analysis, for example, are reported with a lucidity that keeps the reader engaged. The end of the book, Winchester's personal account of his visit to the area, and his view of current volcanic activity in this place is excellent. For the reader who is not previously acquainted with the event of 1883, this isn't a bad introductory text. Maps and sketches abound, emphasizing the small area of ground zero that resulted it such a global disaster. In addition, since this book may inspire enough interest to spur readers to seek even more in other stories of this episode in history, it is well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Takes too long to get to the subject; gave up after 7 CDs
Review: Anyone reading the back cover of the book or the audio versions is led to believe that the book covers the explosion of Krakatoa and it effects on not only the nearby inhabitants but also the world. There is actually much more, and as a result, it can get extremely dull if you weren't planning to listen to descriptions of trade winds, and the settlement by the Dutch in the 1500s, geology expeditions in Greenland, and what the towns in Java/Indonesia were like in the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s, to the point when the volcano erupted in the 1890s. Of course, the author probably knows quite a bit about tectonic geology, but the slow pace and overkill applied to background information killed this book for me. I wanted to read about the things described on the book's back cover, and when it took 2/3 of the book to get there, my patience was nearly over. The actual description of the volcanic explosion is really anticlimatic, and if you're still listening at that point, the letdown colors what follows. I was very disappointed, and didn't want to be. I had really hoped for an interesting story, but given the long length of time it took to reach fruition, I would definitely NOT recommend this book to anyone unless their interests lay in studying rocks in their spare time, or saying in 10 CDs what oculd be done in three. (6 CDs were trivial background of little importance, 4 were the explosion and aftermath, of which 1/4 of that material was way too dry).
Rating: 
Summary: Written like a technical journal article
Review: When I heard the author interviewed on NPR I rushed out and purchased a copy of the book. What a disappointment! As an avid reader I hate to abandon a book after I start it. I did finish Krakatoa but it was a real struggle - actually more of a challenge to prove I could do it. The book is verbose, written like a technical journal article and is overloaded with footnotes and run on sentences. For a 350+ page book, surprisingly little deals with the actual eruption and aftermath. It's more of a book about the geology, politics, biology, botany, and economic history of Java/Sumatra. Although there are several maps in the book, none of them actually says "this is where Krakatoa was". The author assumes you'll be able to figure it out by reading about a bunch of obsure landmarks and then looking at a map.
Rating:
Summary: Probably the best, but a bit too broad in scope
Review: Of all volcano eruptions in our "recent" history, the eruption of
Krakatau (the author keeps using the historically inaccurate yet more popular name of Krakatoa) in 1883 is probably the biggest in terms of the impact on the earth climate and society, and the sheer number of fatalities. Surprisingly, not many books are available on the subject, especially for those not involved with volcanology and geology. Mr. Winchester's book fills this gap perfectly (well, almost perfectly; more on this below). The author provides and extremely detailed look into the historical, geological, biological, and social background and consequences of the great Krakatau eruption in 1883. The book is very richly detailed. It blends history, geology, religion together in a smooth and logical narration. The author starts with black pepper (yes, black pepper) which was the primary reason for Dutch presence in the area and unwinds the story up to the August 27, 1888 and further. The book is not perfect unfortunately. Despite the staggering amount of details, very little material is devoted to the actual mechanics of the Krakatau eruption. I managed to find about 3 paragraphs dealing vaguely with the relationship between subduction zones and volcano eruptions. A book on volcano eruption ought to provide more detail on the eruption mechanics. There was not a single drawing on the subject. This is unfortunate, as the matter is extremely interesting and the narration would benefit tremendously from more information as well as some drawings, diagrams, and pictures. On a related subject, the book is more than modest when it comes to illustrations and photographs. For example, readers are treated with only one (sic!) photograph of Anak Krakatau. Considering that the last chapter is devoted to the author's travel to the aforementioned volcano, it is unforgivable to not treat the audience with a photographic evidence of this trip. Other volcanoes mentioned in the book also deserve a photograph - there is a lot of rich visual material readily available, and the book would benefit a lot from it. As I said, the book is extremely detailed and interesting, yet I tend to feel that the balance of the background and the main subject of the book is a bit skewed. The author tends to strand away from the narration point into the background detail and even though this background is extremely interesting, I'd rather read more about the Krakatau eruption. To conclude, this is probably the best book on Krakatau eruption for an average reader without special background. While it tries to be too broad in scope and has little (relative to its size) on the actual eruption and on Krakatau in general, its style is brilliant and its data is accurate. Enjoy it as I did.
Rating:
Summary: Expectations were let down
Review: Having read all the positives about this book, and since I am often interested in science books that are accesible to people who aren't academics, I was really looking forward to this read. However, I was greatly disappointed on the basis of two major points:
1 - the book delved far too deeply in the history of the region, which although pertinent, was written in a manner that wasn't very interesting. It was clear to me that Winchester's forte lay not in history. Perhaps he needed "filler" because there wasn't enough other information? Which leads me to point #2:
2 - there is still much unknown about how volcanos work, let alone volcanos that erupted over a hundred years ago. Therefore, the explanations and scientific detail about the actual process which caused the volcano to erupt is surprisngly sparse, and the post eruption information is based mainly on sources that are not completely credible based on today's standards of data collection and recording. i ended up skimming huge chunks and was utterly let down.
Rating:
Summary: CAUTION: CONTAINS INTELLIGENT WRITING
Review: This is an excellent book! I really enjoyed learning about the string of history that connects things that effect me today with Indonesian history. This book is not for sissies. I reccomend you read it with a map of indonesia, and a dictionary. Anyone who is interested in sailing, colonies, geography/geology, volcanoes, The Dutch, Spice trades, Islam, Southeast Asian history or a great story will enjoy this book. It's like reading the discovery channel.
Rating: 
Summary: Ecology, economics and plate tectonics
Review: Winchester writes an exhaustive, exhausting, and sometimes entertaining story of the biology, sociology, hydrology and ecology surrounding one of the world's great natural events, wrapped up in the politics and economics of the period, including prized plants like pepper and nutmeg and technological breakthroughs like underseas telegraph lines that allow the news of the disaster to spread at an unprecedented rate. Intimate stories and intricate details abound. Any author who can describe chemolithoautotrophic hyperthermophilic archaebacteria (p. 360) or will include the note about an a scientist who found that "that the weight of insects devoured by British spiders in an average year exceeds the total weight of all British people combined," (p. 362) has a penchant for detail that at times goes over the edge. If you are a scientist, especially a geologist specializing in plate tectonics (which is what really explains Krakatoa but doesn't make it very interesting), than you should enjoy this book. Others need to be forewarned and armed with a disposition for detail. The August 27, 1888 eruption of Krakatoa, popularized by many 'anti-environmentalists' as the single most powerful, destructive and filthy case of pollution ever recorded, actually gets relatively short shrift here, in one long chapter, Chapter 8. Ships are tossed about, people run for their lives in the face of giant waves, and the sounds of the eruption are heard hundreds of miles away. We read about the circus in town preceding the event (Chapter 7), including the small elephant housed in a hotel room. There are some ominous connections between Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism and natural disasters like Krakatoa that merit further development for those curious about connections to today's Indonesian politics. Two of the three prefacing maps are a bit confusing, making it hard to immediately locate and isolate the volcano; on the second map it is difficult to separate the land from the water. One later map is so tiny (cf. p. 229) that even a magnifying glass may not help the determined reader.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but with strong warnings...
Review: I think this is best read as a library book, rather than one you should invest money in (unless you are truly curious about Indonesian history in general). Certain sections require a strong stomach. Among the eyewitness accounts to Krakatoa cited is that of a European man who noticed among his fellow refugees a woman who was fleeing while trying to give birth, and goes into somewhat graphic detail. This is not necessarily reading that would be pleasant for women who plan on being pregnant any time in the future or for small children.
Rating: 
Summary: Winchester Takes You on a Journey
Review: The joy of a Winchester book is in the wide variety of interesting and insightful discoveries that he can weave into the main subject. He is my new Ambrose, wherever he leads, I follow along on an fascinating journey. This books is not just about a volcano. It has insights into exploration, colonization, botony, plate techtonics, and many other interesting subjects. But you do not need a deep or even modest understanding of them, as Winchester smoothly explains the key details in easy to understand and interesting ways. Needless to say, I loved this book and I am working my way through the rest of the Winchester library.
Rating:
Summary: A great story with many enjoyable detours and sidelights!
Review: On the one hand, this book could've been more focused and therefore powerful; on the other, we would've lost a lot of interesting sidelights to the story of the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. I can't recall another book where some of the lengthy footnotes were as interesting as the main text! The discussion of the Papal Donation of 1492 and the development of time zones could warrant books in themselves. Winchester builds a long run up to the actual explosion itself with information on the struggles of colonial powers over the East Indies, a background in plate tectonics and the scientists that advanced theories, among other topics. The actual description of the event itself was surprisingly brief. The Epilogue where the author describes his summiting of Anak Krakatoa ("the son of Krakatoa") was a wonderful "dessert" to a satisfying book. I think the publisher overplayed the "Krakatoa caused the re-emergence of radical Islam" angle in an effort to tie the book to today's headlines. Winchester actually makes a much more nuanced case, saying that the eruption aided and encouraged the changes that were already underway. I was disappointed in the poor maps that were included. They didn't help much in following Winchester's detailed narration of events in and around the island. This book does a wonderful job of bringing the Java of the 1880s to life and will be savored by history lovers. Those more strictly interested in the eruption will still enjoy skimming the relevant chapters. I've enjoyed several of Simon Winchester's books now and look forward to seeing what subject he tackles next!
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