Volcanoes

"This edition of Volcanoes was published as a ‘pocket’-sized Penguin book, and I have fond memories of reading it as a volcano-obsessed teenager. Peter wrote this as a book to be read, rather than as a textbook, and it retains a delightful and timeless quality. I remember being drawn to his descriptions of the magical volcanoes of the high Andes; indeed, so much so that I nearly went to study for a PhD with Peter Francis some years later. His accounts of the three ‘classic’ eruptions — of Vesuvius in AD 79, Krakatoa in 1883, and Mont Pelee in 1902 — are as good as you will find anywhere, with an enthralling mix of eyewitness accounts and volcanological insight. In volcanology, there is much to be learnt from comparing the eruption ‘of the day’ to case studies from the past, and for this reason Volcanoes is certainly a book to be re-read and enjoyed today."