Rating: 
Summary: Roaming and Rumbling Through the Sunda Straits
Review: Despite the title, "Krakatoa" isn't just about the "day the world exploded." Perhaps a third of the book is devoted to the cataclysmic detonations that took place on August 27, 1883 and their immediate aftermath. Although this part of the story is gripping and hard to put down, the rest of the book is fascinating as well. Winchester is a master of elegant digression. "Krakatoa" explores the Portuguese and Dutch exploitation of the East Indies, the spread of Islam as a political force in Indonesia, plate tectonics, subduction zones, the ice in Greenland, the post-eruption growth and re-vegetation of Anak Krakatoa (the "child of Krakatoa"), the evolutionary theories of Alfred Russell Wallace and Charles Darwin, and a host of interesting topics and characters in between. In its amiable style, "Krakatoa" reminded me of Nicholas Clapp's "Road to Ubar" and "Sheba," neither of which have anything to do with volcanoes but both of which are travelogues that explore history in a well-written and entertaining way. It's all in the journey, not in the destination. If you are looking for a book about how volcanoes blow up and devastate the things around them, you'll probably enjoy only a few chapters of Winchester's book (although I think you will enjoy them a great deal). For those who want to learn about how volcanoes have changed history (which is at least part of Winchester's thesis), check out David Keys' "Catastrophe" and the fascinating companion video of the same name, as well as De Boer & Sanders, "Volcanoes in Human History" and Pellegrino's "Unearthing Atlantis." For a book about the destruction wrought by volcanoes, try "Vulcan's Fury: Mana Against the Volcano," by Alwyn Scarth. Finally, a word about the physical qualities of "Krakatoa": I find that I really enjoy reading a book that has a nice colophon and seems to be made of high quality, well bound paper. The hardbound copy of "Krakatoa," with its quirky partial dust jacket, strikes me as a very nicely made book (though time will tell, of course).
Rating:
Summary: It's A Question Of What You're Looking For
Review: If you glance at some of the other reviews of "Krakatoa," you'll find some wildly divergent opinions. Some readers have found it dense and boring, while others have been absolutely enthralled by it. I place myself in the latter group. What Simon Winchester had aimed to do (and in my opinion, he succeeds quite well) is to place the cataclysmic eruption of Krakatoa in context. We aren't just given the story of the big, bad volcano that went "boom." He wants us to understand the basic geology that made it possible, even inevitable for it to have happened. He wants us to know the native peoples and colonizers who lived nearby, and how the eruption forever altered their lives, both in the immediate aftermath, and for the longer term. I am not of a scientific bent, so I admit I found the early chapters to be a bit challenging at times. But Winchester writes with a fluidity that made it possible for me (I think!) to absorb his basic concepts. This is a challenging work, but a rewarding one, and if you approach it with the right mind-set, you shouldn't be disappointed.
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Summary: Krakatoa Review
Review: I gave this book a 4 rating but with reservations. I found one glaring mistake on page 292. Mr. Winchester says "No small number of today's Californians can rightly lay responsibility for their being Californians squarely at the door of the cause of the ruinous cold - Tambora a volcano unknown to most and 10,000 miles away." Tamboro erupted in 1815 !!!! California at the time was occupied by maybe a couple of dozen Spanish missions, some Indians and a few Russia fur trappers. Anyone starving would not go to California and the only way there was a hazardous journey around the Horn of South America. The overland trail had not been established and there was no way for wagons to get through at the time. American fur trappers, about a dozen, did reach California in 1823. The Indians killed almost all of them. I was also, like other readers dissappointed with the maps and illustrations. He doesn't even locate Krakatoa or Tamboro on his area map. Some of his speculation about the effect of Krakatoa on the religion and politics of the Dutch East Indies is in my opinion that - speculation. This in combination with his comments about the settling of California makes me doubt his contention. The political upheaval would have occurred anyway - in my opinion - which at this point seems as good as his.
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Summary: Glowing, Factual Lava
Review: Sure, most of us have heard of Krakatoa. The details may be sketchy in our minds, but we know that some volcano, at some point in modern history, put on one incredible display of nature's power. If that's as far as your knowledge goes, this book provides a heavily researched examination of the cataclysmic event. To read this book is to see the planet and mankind through different eyes. Although Winchester spends over 150 pages leading up to the eruption itself, the information he brings to light adds so much to our understanding--geographically, socially, and politically--of this volcano's earth-rocking destruction. He builds his book layer by layer, giving us insights into Dutch colonialism, subduction zones and plate tectonics, Islamic fundamentalism and tsunamis. Not only does Winchester build up to that fateful day in 1883, he gives us details of the aftermath, details that still tantalize and disturb to this day. Somehow, he also works in dry bits of humor. Subtle, but intentional, these will leave you smiling if not laughing out loud. My one complaint: Occasionally, Winchester provides footnotes and insights that merely tantalize. For example, I wanted to know more about the ballooning spiders that arrived on the shores of southern California, and more about the even greater devastation of Tambora's eruption in the early 1800s that Winchester passes over quickly. If you're looking for a book with pulse-pounding narrative, you may be disappointed. To pass over the deaths of 36,000 people in true Hollywood-ish, page-turner style would have been a grave disservice--one that Winchester wisely sidesteps. If, however, you settle into the book with a curious mind, you may find yourself thoroughly engrossed. Between these hardbound covers, the sheer magnitude of the volcano's power explodes to the surface and flows down the slopes of each page with glowing, factual lava. In the end, the account is worth every minute of reading time invested.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring and long
Review: It would seem that a story about one of the biggest natural disasters the world has experienced would, by necessity, be a compelling read. Instead, Mr. Winchester tries to link everything from pepper plants to religious fundamentalism to the island eruption, yielding a long and boring narrative that jumps back and forth between subjects. If you can remember being in a professor's hot afternoon classroom as he drones on about his detailed opinions and observations, then this is the same feeling you will get from trying to read the book. Sorry, but I couldn't force myself to finish it. Find a copy on the bookshelf of your favorite retailer, skip to page 200 and read the limited 40 pages about the actual eruption, then put the book back on the shelf for some other hapless buyer to purchase. Overall, a real disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: A total hoot!
Review: I greatly enjoyed this sly, somewhat disorganized, tongue in cheek discussion of perhaps-the-most-famous-volcanoe-yet. Winchester is clearly highly knowledgeable about various aspects of geology & writes in a way that made this layman really want to go out & learn more. His endless tangents and footnotes were almost always entertaining and worthwhile forays into new knowledge, and while they did break up the stream of narrative at times they also served to humanize what is otherwise a truly Humongous event. The book does an excellent job with scale -one actually gets a sense of just how big things were, from explosions to tsunamis- and the eye-witness accounts of the aftermath of the eruption were truly horrific. Some of the early speculation on the possible impact of a pre-Krakatoa Krakatoa Event seemed to be on (dare I say it?) shaky ground, but when Winchester cuts to the know historical record of the eruption he seems rock solid. I felt that the attempt to "bring the book up to the present minute" by discussing the putative impact of Krakatoa on the rise of Islamic extremism in Indonesia & the hint that the bombing in Bali last year might be yet another (cultural) aftershock of the eruption a bit forced (If you ever do a second edition Simon, I'd kill that whole chapter). These complaints aside I frankly couldn't put the book down, went straight back to school & recommended it to my students & friends & will be watching for Winchester's next production with cheerful anticipation.
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Summary: The modern world's most dangerous volcano
Review: On August 27, 1883, an island volcano, in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, exploded with a noise that must have sounded like the "crack of doom". The sound was heard almost 3000 miles away. The dust and ashes rose to 17-24 miles above the earth, depending on whom you believe. The shock wave of the explosion circled the globe 7 times. The dust stayed in the atmosphere and strongly colored the sunsets around the world for several years. The sea waves from the explosion were felt in the English Channel and 46,000 people died, mostly because of the immense waves that were like walls of water. Actually, there were 4 explosions, happening between 5:30 & 10:02 A.M., with the last one being the biggest. This book gives an intriguing and thorough examination of what caused the fifth largest volcanic explosion in modern times. Of course, it's also an entry-level introduction to what causes all volcanoes. Although 4 volcano eruptions were larger, they were not so devastating because they were remote and caused much less mayhem. The author doesn't discus the Vesuvius eruption that destroyed Pompeii so I don't know how it relates, but apparently even it is not ingrained into the public consciousness as much as Krakatoa. The author gives a short discussion of how this monstrous explosion affected the Islamic people in Indonesia and contributed to an uprising against their Dutch colonial government. This also bears on the relations with the Islamic world that we are having today. The book is well written although some sentences are overly long and complicated, occasionally giving a little trouble in following the thought. The many footnotes can be distracting but most are interesting and belong there for further enlightenment. It's thoroughly enjoyable and informative - an overall view of the Krakatoa story and of volcanoes and plate tectonics.
Overall it is an outstanding, well done book.
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Summary: Three books in one
Review: Simon Winchester's new book, "Krakatoa: The Day The World Exploded", more or less consists of three shorter books woven together by a gigantic stitch. For some readers this might be an enticement but for others I would suspect the opposite to be true. The first "book" is a mini-history of the Dutch involvement in present-day Indonesia several centuries ago with an emphasis on the Dutch East Asia Company. Winchester is good at giving a "flavor" of the times, and, while harsh on the Dutch, sets a nice tone for "Krakatoa". The second "book" contains the reason I give the work four stars instead of five. If the reader bought "Krakatoa" purely for learning about its eruption and demise, then the third chapter of "Krakatoa" might be where one stops. It is an overlong technical class concerning tectonic plate movements and scientific theorists proven and debunked. I began to have second thoughts about continuing "Krakatoa" while reading this chapter. However, having gotten through it, the remaining parts of this book are very good. Winchester's narrative is especially effective in two places.....his actual description of what it would have been like to have been near Krakatoa (and indeed, WAS like for some who gave the few surviving accounts of August 27, 1883) and the recounting of his own visit to Anak Krakatoa (the island formed in Krakatoa's wake) not too long ago. I would recommend Winchester's book but with a caveat....be ready for "Krakatoa's" rises and falls...and by this I refer to the book and not the volcano, itself.
Rating:
Summary: Information overload
Review: This book tells the tale of the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa in 1883, with the resulting destruction and death of about 35,000 people. However, in addition to that story, the author has included page after page of info about the formation of the earth, the history of the East Indies, Dutch colonialism, geology, geography, plate tectonics, and a whole host of other, somewhat intersting, subjects. These additions really bog down the story, and at times tend to have the eyes glaze over while reading. As long as you can slog through the mundane parts, and read about the eruption, you will enjoy this book. If you like your nonfiction laced and larded with facts like an encyclopedia, you will also enjoy this book. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting moments but makes a few ridiculous leaps
Review: In general, a good book--parts of it were absolutely gripping. However, i think the author tries to take advantage of 9/11 and terrorism in Indonesia to sell copy and it's both tacky and unwarranted. It's one thing to suggest that Dutch imperialism and its cruel nature left the door open for islamic radicals to take hold of the population; however, I think it's way over the top to suggest that Krakatoa's eruption did it. It seems relatively safe to say that seeds were sown well before krakatoa and it was a question of time before the Dutch were booted out as other colonial powers were globally. It was not as if krakatoa went boom and islamic radicals kicked out the Dutch a few months later. Overall, it could have been a good book, but I think the tacky exploitation of terrorism earns it one star and the author, my enmity.
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