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This gulf of fire : the destruction of Lisbon, or apocalypse in the age of science and reason / Mark Molesky.

Van Pelt Library DP762 .M65 2015
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Molesky, Mark.
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Lisbon Earthquake, Portugal, 1755.
Earthquakes--Portugal--Lisbon--History--18th century.
Earthquakes.
Tsunamis--Portugal--Lisbon--History--18th century.
Tsunamis.
Fires--Portugal--Lisbon--History--18th century.
Fires.
Earthquake relief--Portugal--Lisbon--History--18th century.
Earthquake relief.
Disasters--Social aspects.
History.
Disasters.
Lisbon (Portugal)--Social conditions--18th century.
Lisbon (Portugal).
Disasters--Social aspects--Europe--History--18th century.
Enlightenment--Europe.
Enlightenment.
Europe.
Portugal--Lisbon.
Social conditions.
Portugal.
Genre:
History.
Physical Description:
viii, 496 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm
Edition:
First edition.
Place of Publication:
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.
Summary:
"On All Saints Day of 1755, the tremors from a magnitude 8.5 earthquake swept furiously from its epicenter in the Atlantic Ocean toward the Iberian Peninsula. Nowhere was it felt more than in Lisbon, then the thriving capital of a great global empire. In a few minutes most of Lisbon was destroyed--but that was only the beginning. A tsunami swept away most of the ruined coast along the Tagus River and carried untold souls out to sea. When fire broke out across the city, the surviving Lisboetas were subject to a firestorm reaching temperatures over 1,832 degrees F. Drawing on a wealth of new sources, on modern science (geology did not exist then), and on a sophisticated grasp of Portuguese history, Molesky gives us the definitive account of the destruction, of history's first international relief effort, and of the dampening effects these events had on the optimistic spirit of the Enlightenment"--Provided by pulisher.
Contents:
Prologue: The Last Victim
Babylonia Portugueza
November 1, 1755
An Unexpected Horror
The Great Firestorm
The Hour of Pombal
City of Ashes, Huts of Wood
Word spreads
"A Chaos of Stones"
Uma Lisboa Nova
Reverberations.
Notes:
"A Borzoi book"--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 437-468) and index.
ISBN:
9780307267627
0307267628
OCLC:
904715510

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