Simon Winchester could turn your decrepit granny's boring old stories into lively, magical tales. He has a way of putting the reader into the past while making them feel as if the historical subjects he writes about are fresh and very much of the present.
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded is no exception. Though this raging volcano's past exploits in the form of catastrophic explosions can only be guessed at for lack of reliable eyewitnesses aside from its late 1800s eruption, Winchester still manages to crowd your senses with the sights, sounds, smells and very feel of the whole experience. Why only 4 stars for such great writing? The exposition gets boggy at times. Because there is so little information on the history of Krakatoa's first supposed explosions, extraneous supporting data had to be collected and explained, and that can be long-winded, meandering and at times tedious. But if you like history and don't mind some educational detours,
Krakatoa... is well-worth your time.
