On 27th August 1883 the most terrifying volcanic eruption occurred on the island of Krakatoa, five miles off the western tip of Java. The island was destroyed and almost 40,000 people were killed. The impact was truly global: ships sailing in the Red Sea were covered in ash; barometers went haywire in Washington; stunning sunsets burned over London; immense rafts of pumice floated to Africa. And there would be further, and even more far-reaching effects: the destruction wrought by this volcano would become the catalyst to a bloody uprising of the region’s Muslim community against their western colonial masters.

In his wonderfully engaging and inimitable style, Simon Winchester brings to life the drama, the people and the science behind this iconic event. Bursting with anecdotes, illustrations of everything from tidal waves to pepper plants and with a wonderful cast of characters, Krakatoa is the brilliantly vivid story of man’s destruction and his ultimate survival.