Island on Fire: the Extraordinary Story of Laki, the Forgotten Volcano that Turned Eighteenth-Century Europe Dark (2014)

by Alexandra Witze, Jeff Kanipe (Author)

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History. Nature. Science. Nonfiction. HTML: Can a single explosion change the course of history? An eruption at the end of the eighteenth century led to years of climate change while igniting famine, disease, and even perhaps revolution. Laki is Iceland's largest volcano-and its most fearsome. Its eruption in 1783 is one of history's great, untold natural disasters. Spewing out sun-blocking ash and then a poisonous fog for eight long months, the effects of the eruption lingered across the world for years. It caused the deaths of people as far away as the Nile and created catastrophic conditions throughout Europe. Island on Fire is the story not only of a single eruption but the people whose lives it changed, the dawn of modern volcanology, as well as the history-and potential-of other super-volcanoes like Laki around the world. And perhaps most pertinently, in the wake of the eruption of another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, which closed European air space in 2010, acclaimed science writers Witze and Kanipe look at what might transpire should Laki erupt again in our lifetime. .… (more)

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Showing 4 of 4

Short but interesting. Preferred winchester's Krakatoa book, but this one had some nice historical bits. Found chapter 8 , the one on the diferent ways a volcano can kill you (

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cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |

Plenty pop science writing about volcanoes falls into the trap of "here is the worst case scenario to worry about", and this is no exception, although to a much lesser extent. Additionally, many things written about Lakagígar tends to focus heavily on the effects on mainland Europe and speculative global effects, while barely mentioning the local devastation, and I'm glad that this books avoided that, as it included information I previously only found in Icelandic or on obscure volcanologist blogs. I had a good time, although I wish the authors would have skipped the almost obligatory "how can we apply this knowledge to the present" section. (

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pigeoncube | Oct 29, 2023 |

Beautifully written book describing the story of the Icelandic volcano, Laki, during the 18th century. Also includes a discussion of the global and not so global effects of various other well-known volcanoes/supervolcanoes. No repetitions or waffling, straight forward, to the point, with illustrations/maps/photos. (

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ElentarriLT | Mar 24, 2020 |

The chapters of this book that are about the eruption of Laki, the effects on Iceland and continental Europe, and so forth--basically, the chapters that reflect the subtitle of the book--were good.

But too many chapters were volcanic history. Past eruptions and their effects on the planet and people. Possible past eruptions and possible future eruptions and possible effects.

Too much high school science class volcano info. Too much conjecture. But the core of the book is interesting. (

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Dreesie | Apr 12, 2016 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Alexandra Witze	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Kanipe, Jeff	Author	main author	all editions	confirmed

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Imeline Teadus (22)

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books (Commended – Young Adult Science Book – 2016)

PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award (Shortlist – 2016)

Notable Lists

Physics World Book of the Year (Shortlist – 2014)

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Canonical title

Island on Fire: the Extraordinary Story of Laki, the Forgotten Volcano that Turned Eighteenth-Century Europe Dark

Original title

Island on Fire: The Extraordinary Story of Laki, the Volcano that Turned Eighteenth-Century Europe Dark

Alternative titles

Island on Fire: The Extraordinary Story of a Forgotten Volcano that Changed the World

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People/Characters

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Heimaey Island, Iceland

Important events

Laki Eruption (1783)

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At least everyone was at home, sung in their beds, when the world began to end.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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▾Book descriptions

History. Nature. Science. Nonfiction. HTML:

Can a single explosion change the course of history? An eruption at the end of the eighteenth century led to years of climate change while igniting famine, disease, and even perhaps revolution.

Laki is Iceland's largest volcano-and its most fearsome. Its eruption in 1783 is one of history's great, untold natural disasters. Spewing out sun-blocking ash and then a poisonous fog for eight long months, the effects of the eruption lingered across the world for years. It caused the deaths of people as far away as the Nile and created catastrophic conditions throughout Europe.

Island on Fire is the story not only of a single eruption but the people whose lives it changed, the dawn of modern volcanology, as well as the history-and potential-of other super-volcanoes like Laki around the world. And perhaps most pertinently, in the wake of the eruption of another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, which closed European air space in 2010, acclaimed science writers Witze and Kanipe look at what might transpire should Laki erupt again in our lifetime.

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