World Disasters - Krakatoa [Hardcover]

Don Nardo (Author), Brian McGovern (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1990 | ISBN-10: 1560060115 | ISBN-13: 978-1560060116 | Edition: 1

On August 26, 1883 the people on the Javan and Sumatran coasts were surprised and shocked by the violent eruption of the three cones of the volcano on the island of Krakatoa. The volcanoes exploded in a violent eruption, finally collapsing into the sea.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Lucent Books; 1 edition (June 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560060115
• ISBN-13: 978-1560060116
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,371,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don Nardo is a historian and award-winning writer who specializes in the ancient world, especially the civilizations of Greece and Rome. He began as a actor and worked with the National Shakespeare Company before turning to writing screenplays and teleplays and, soon afterward, devoting much of his time to historical research and writing. In the past two decades, he has published nearly two hundred volumes on diverse historical topics. And having earned numerous favorable reviews, he is widely recognized as the country's leading writer of historical works for young adults. He is also versed in various other subjects and as a result is frequently asked by publishers to write books on a number of scientific and literary topics.

Mr. Nardo also composes and arranges orchestral music, having started composing in his early teens. Over the years he has turned out more than eighty musical works, including 2 symphonies, 4 string quartets, several concertos, a film score, incidental music for stage productions, and several commissions, the most recent a double concerto for violin and Portuguese guitar written for two noted musicians. He is also the resident composer and arranger for the Amadis Orchestra, based in Connecticut. For more information, see his official web site at www.nardopublishing.com and his more extensive biography at Wikipedia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, March 20, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: World Disasters - Krakatoa (Hardcover)

In May of 1883, in the narrow straights that separate the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia (then known as the Dutch East Indies), a volcano that the experts thought extinct suddenly came to life. On August 26 of that same year, Krakatoa, the small volcanic island, literally exploded, sending dust and debris into the upper atmosphere (and thus around the world), and causing tidal waves (tsunamis) that killed some 36,000 people! This book is the story of that dreadful eruption.

In this excellent book, author Don Nardo runs a narrative that allows the reader to watch the tragedy unfold, engulfing the lives of numerous eyewitnesses. Interspersed are sidebars that explain various historical and scientific subjects that are raised in the text. My eight-year-old son has an interest in disasters, and he really enjoyed this book. Not knowing anything about the subject, I read it too. As an adult, I found the book to be highly informative, and yet interesting to read. The author did an excellent job of telling a story of catastrophe, without becoming morbid. My son and I both enjoyed this book, and recommend it to you.