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Island on Fire: The extraordinary story of Laki, the volcano that turned eighteenth-century Europe dark Hardcover – 20 Mar. 2014

by Alexandra Witze (Author), Jeff Kanipe (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 241 ratings
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The eruption of Laki is one of history's great untold natural disasters. The eruption, spewing out a poisionous fog, lasted for eight months, but its effects lingered across Europe for years, causing the death of people as far away as the Nile, and creating famine that may have triggered the French revolution. Island on Fire is the story not only of a volcano but also of the people whose lives it changed, such as the pastor Jon Steingrimsson, who witnessed and recorded the events in Iceland. It is the story, too, of modern volcanology, and looks at how events might work out should Laki erupt again in our time.
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  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Profile Books
  4. Publication date
    20 Mar. 2014
  5. Dimensions
    14.4 x 2.4 x 22.2 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    1781250049
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1781250044
  8. See all details
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Product description

Review

A volcanic tour de force: terrific story-telling that reveals our vulnerability to nature's most destructive forces. -- Nick Crane

Island in Fire is a terrific, disturbing book centred on the eruption of Laki in Iceland in June 1783 and its disastrous repercussions across Europe and beyond. In their fast-paced, enjoyable text the authors use that story and recent science to show how vulnerable we remain to the most unpredictable of natural disasters - volcanic action. -- Gillian Darley ― Vesuvius

Book Description

The 1783 eruption of Laki led to Europe's year without summer - and it is due again soon.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Profile Books; Main edition (20 Mar. 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1781250049
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1781250044
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.4 x 2.4 x 22.2 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 241 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Jeff Kanipe

    Jeff Kanipe

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    Jeff Kanipe is an experienced science writer and editor specializing in astronomy. He’s written everything from skywatching columns to long investigations of cutting-edge cosmology — and just about everything in between. He’s the author of seven highly-received astronomy books.

    Asteroid Jeffkanipe is named in his honor.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Alexandra Witze

    Alexandra Witze

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    Alexandra Witze is an award-winning science journalist and correspondent for the journal Nature. Her reporting has taken her from the North Pole (to report on climate change) to the jungles of Guatemala (to cover Maya archaeology) to China's quake-ravaged Sichuan province. Island on Fire is her first book.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
241 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

sj
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb true storytelling of a catastrophic event
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2020
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This telling of the Laki eruption is beautifully done. This event is not now within living memory but reading the book it feels as if it is. The personal accounts within describe the effects of the eruption on the land, the livestock, the people, the island and the way of life, whilst also demonstrating the scale of the effects across Europe and beyond. The book cleverly invokes mention of other volcanic eruption events recent and ancient, including the Icelandic event in 2010 that had such a detrimental impact on air travel. A fascinating and informative read.
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Doug Jay
4.0 out of 5 stars Island on Fire
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 February 2015
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‘Island on Fire’ is an interesting and informative narrative of the 1783 eruption of the Icelandic volcano Laki, describing its disastrous impact on the local population and the wider adverse effects of atmospheric pollution caused in the northern hemisphere. It is well-researched and an effortless read, especially suitable for those with little knowledge of volcanism given that almost a third of the book is dedicated to supplementary information not directly related to the Laki incident. Whilst not being critical of this inclusion, which I’m sure was well intended, it does impact upon the continuity of the basic story and the content would have benefited from a more logical structure. However as a general account of the Laki eruption and how similar events elsewhere in the world have affected humankind, the book is a worthwhile read and deserves a four star rating.
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DV
5.0 out of 5 stars A volcano changes history - again.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 December 2016
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. A fissure volcano in the Iceland erupted; not large by world standards but killing or poisoning much of the island's population, and darkening the sky and changing weather patterns across the world; widespread famine, disease. revolution followed. .... and Tambora did the same thing , thirty years later (Read `Tambora' by G D Wood, ), Tambora was a much bigger bang but similar widespread effects. See also `The Fourth Horseman by William Rosen, about the 14th century) . And when a very little volcano a couple of years ago shut down all air traffic, what would a big one tomorrow do to us. . How many years' food have YOU got stored?
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 November 2018
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Having visited Iceland earlier in the year I only wished I had read this book beforehand. The human storey telling links with the narration of an extremely interesting account elsewhere of global volcanic events and delivers a profound insight into a world where man is not always in control, despite what we may think. I am still amazed that people could and do adapt long-term to the Icelandic environment, particularly in 1700s, despite a great personal 'visitor fondness'.
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Catherine Drabble
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 October 2014
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I loved this book. It is a mixture of true stories and factual information about volcanoes in Iceland particularly Laki and the eruption of 1783. It also touches on the mechanics of plate tectonics and facts about historical eruptions throughout the world. It describes in detail the awful events of 1783 in Iceland and the consequences for Iceland and Europe.Easy to read and hard to put down.
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Niko
4.0 out of 5 stars Great writing style. A little short.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 March 2017
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Really interesting book covering some of the greatest moments in the modern history of volcanic activity. A little shorter than what I was expecting though. I was hoping that the interesting writing style would continue on to other areas as well (the fact that it didn't is kind of given away in the name of the book).

Short and sweet. A little pricey for the length.
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kg
3.0 out of 5 stars Okay but tedious in parts
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 August 2015
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Bit tedious in parts.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars as new
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 August 2019
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delivered in time. it has also a nice plastic cover because it was in a library in the past.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Peter Mouginismark
5.0 out of 5 stars Great background on a massive historic eruption
Reviewed in the United States on 6 March 2023
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The 1783 eruption of Laki volcano (the "Skaftar-Fires" eruption) had a major impact on life across northern Europe for more than a year. The eruption was documented in detail by people living in Iceland at the time, and so we can get a real insight into what the effects might be of a similar eruption were it to occur today. In "Island on Fire", Alexandra Witze and Jeff Kanipe provide a detailed account of the eruption.

This narrative has been helped as the authors have done a good job in talking to the modern volcanologists who have conducted research on the eruption, and the atmospheric effects that Laki had on the climate of Europe. There seem to be very few mistakes in how they interpret the activity. However, the inclusion of a few more detailed maps would have made their descriptions even easier to follow.

To make a book of greater length, the authors consider several other eruptions that the amateur geologist may have heard about. Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 are featured, as are some of the lesser-known eruptions such as that of Mt. Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. While the discussion of these other volcanoes is mildly interesting, the book doesn't go into the details of why these eruptions were different from Laki (e.g., differences in magma chemistry or tectonic setting are poorly discussed), and so it is possible that a reader may be left wondering what the connection is between all these examples.

Perhaps the most chilling part of the book is the discussion towards the end of the book on the fatalities associated with the gas emissions from Laki. It's clear that such a similar eruption today would have significant health impacts in Britain, Scandinavia, France and Germany and could create major problems for these countries. As the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull (also in Iceland) showed, a new eruption would also have a major impact on trans-Atlantic air traffic and so monitoring and mitigation efforts need to be enhanced. The book therefore serves as a wakeup call to plan for similar activity in the future.

"Island of Fire" is a good read for the lay person. It describes an eruption that has received far less attention that is warranted. For those who are thinking of traveling to Iceland, it also sets the stage for some historically important places to visit.
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K. D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Island On Fire
Reviewed in Canada on 22 September 2019
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Even though it was only rated a VEI4 on the Volcanic Explosive Index it’s still believed to have killed upwards of 6 million people throughout Europe as a sulphuric cloud believed at the time to be a strange smelling fog crept across the land.
This is the story of Laki the 1783 Icelandic volcanic eruption.
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Amazon Kunde
5.0 out of 5 stars Interessant
Reviewed in Germany on 25 October 2017
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Allen, die sich für Vulkanismus und Island interessieren, kann ich dieses interessante, informative Buch nur empfehlen. Leider kommen in der Druckausgabe die Fotos nicht zur Geltung, da sie in schwarz-weiß gedruckt wurden.
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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book
Reviewed in France on 17 October 2016
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This book is so full of informations It's well written and I did enjoy reading it very much. I will definitely read it again and again
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Lee W
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Interesting Read
Reviewed in Australia on 9 November 2014
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Reading Krakatau, Tambora and now Island on Fire was very instructive. This book is well written with an easy writing style and covers Laki and other volcanos on Iceland as well as giving some international info on other major eruptions. If you are interested in volcanos and how they can change the weather world wide don't miss this one. Very informative. Very good read.
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