Vesuvius / Gillian Darley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Darley, Gillian.

Series:

Wonders of the world (Cambridge, Mass.)

Wonders of the world

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Volcanism--Italy--Vesuvius.

Volcanism.

Vesuvius (Italy)--History.

Vesuvius (Italy).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (257 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Volcanoes around the world have their own legends, and many have wrought terrible devastation, but none has caught the imagination like Vesuvius. We now know that immense eruptions destroyed Bronze Age settlements around Vesuvius, but the Romans knew nothing of those disasters and were lulled into complacency—much as we are today—by its long period of inactivity. None of the nearly thirty eruptions since AD 79 has matched the infamous cataclysm that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum within hours. Nearly two thousand years later, the allure of the volcano remains— as evidenced by its popularity as a tourist attraction, from Shelley and the Romantics to modern-day visitors.Vesuvius has loomed large throughout history, both feared and celebrated. Gillian Darley unveils the human responses to Vesuvius from a cast of characters as far-flung as Pliny the Younger and Andy Warhol, revealing shifts over time. This cultural and scientific meditation on a powerful natural wonder touches on pagan religious beliefs, vulcanology, and travel writing. Sifting through the ashes of Vesuvius, Darley exposes how changes in our relationship to the volcano mirror changes in our understanding of our cultural and natural environments.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Map

Introduction

1. Early days

2. Miracle or science?

3. William Hamilton – made by Vesuvius

4. Romantics

5. Making Vesuvius

6. Real Geology, New Focus

7. Vesuvius and the Wider World

Visiting Vesuvius at home and abroad

Further Reading

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Index

Backmatter

Notes:

Originally published: London : Profile Books, 2011.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jun 2020)

ISBN:

9780674062801

0674062809

OCLC:

776588134