"What Zebrowski does best is capture the slow, creepy unfolding of the disaster, and the failure of the brick-brained men in power, or anyone else, to recognize that something very, very bad was about to take place. A man and woman stray from a picnic on the volcano and discover fumes drifting from the base of a dead tree, but of course think nothing more about it. Snakes and insects begin migrating down the mountain to escape the increasingly inhospitable atmosphere, with thousands of ants and centipedes finding solace in the sugar warehouse of the island's wealthy refiners. . . . The book works well and presents a detailed, chilling portrait of one really awful moment in paradise."-The New York Times Book Review

"The eruption of Mount Pelée on the Caribbean island of Martinique in the spring of 1902 destroyed the entire French West Indies city of St. Pierre. A hundred years later, natural disaster buff Zebrowksi (Perils of a Restless Planet) has pulled together enough records to create a subtle though gripping account that combines powerful human drama (and tragedy) with a well-documented report of catastrophe in paradise. His account dwells on how easily the French bureaucratic order buckled like Walter Lords A Night To Remember cast on an island fixed in a sea of cataclysms over the Atlantic Tectonic Plate. And like the Titanic disaster, this one came at just the moment when science (early seismometers were in place on the island) and undersea cable communications seemed capable of defending cities against forces of nature. Both St. Vincents and Martinique suffered major volcanic eruptions in succession in April and May, but Zebrowskis premise that the colonial infrastructure of St. Pierre could have got many of the 30,000 who died out of the second volcanos way is somehow swept away by his own storytelling powers (his re-creation of the island governor's last cabinet meeting, for example). He is nearly as good as McPhee (Annals of the Former World) at making the earth move under the reader, and schadenfreude fans and historical disaster buffs will enjoy this one while perhaps in Paris some bureaucrat may yet be called to account."Publishers Weekly

"A spirited account of a natural disaster that captured the worlds attention a century ago. Zebrowski details the May 1902 explosion of Martiniques Mont Pelée, which destroyed the once-grand French colonial city of St. Pierre, then the islands only center of trade; only a handful of the towns 26,500 residents survived. . . . More substantial than many natural-disaster books of late, this one is for the geology buffs."Kirkus Reviews

"On May 8, 1902, Mont Pelee on the island of Martinique exploded. A vast cloud of superheated steam, ash, rocks, and debris descended on the poor city of St. Pierre. In three or four minutes the entire population of the city died. . . . Zebrowski examines both the geologic situation and the social and political conditions that led the French authorities to concentrate as many people as possible in the path of certain death. This readable and entertaining popular history is well documented from French records, survivors accounts, journalists, and scientific investigations. Highly recommended for public libraries and Caribbean collections."Library Journal

On May 8, 1902, Mont Pelée on the island of Martinique exploded. A deadly cloud of steam and ash churned through plantations and villages, flattened the grand city of St. Pierre, then thundered into the bay where it sank eighteen ships and hundreds of smaller craft. Within a minute or two, nearly thirty thousand humans died. The splintered rubble of their homes and belongings burned for three days, and the world began to understand the awesome power of nuées ardentes, glowing avalanches of hot gas and debris that sweep down the slopes of volcanoes, instantly steaming to death anything in their path. The enormous death toll was particularly tragic because it was avoidable. Had it not been for an unfortunate combination of scientific misjudgment and political hubris, most of the victims would have escaped.

In The Last Days of St. Pierre, Ernest Zebrowski, Jr., counts down the days leading up to the catastrophe, and unfolds a tale intertwining human foolishness and heroism with the remarkable forces of nature. Illustrations contrast life in Martinique before and after the eruption, and eyewitness accounts bring the story to life.

Although it seems a long time since the destruction of St. Pierre, it is a mere blink of an eye in our planets geological history. Mont Pelée will erupt again, as will Vesuvius, Krakatau, St. Helens, Thera, and most other infamously fatal volcanoes, and human lives will again be threatened. The St. Pierre disaster has taught us much about the awesome power of volcanic forces and the devastation they can bring.

Ernest Zebrowski, Jr., is a university professor who has written and lectured about natural disasters for the past two decades. His books, which have been translated into five languages, include A History of the Circle (Rutgers University Press), Perils of a Restless Planet, Practical Physics, and Fundamentals of Physical Measurement.

Click here to read an interview with the author

Excerpted from The Last Days of St. Pierre

"I have come from hell." ¾ badly burned survivor Captain Edward Freeman, of the British steamship Roddam

"I beheld the black vapor leap from the side of the mountain. Looking down on it as it rolled on to St. Pierre it seemed to me as if all Martinique was sliding into the sea. A great tongue of fire seemed to detach itself from the vapor to lick up all the water in the Roxelane River. The British Governments Residency was engulfed, as was every building around. Only the towers of the Cathedral of Saint Pierre remained untouched, and they only for a brief moment, for the fiery mass enveloped them, too, as it spread itself over all of St. Pierre. The mass was being constantly refueled by a huge stream of fire pouring out of the side of the crater to ravage an already devastated town. The cane fields were on fire, as were the plantations around the town. There must be so many victims, hundreds, possibly thousands, and from here there was nothing to be done." ¾ Father J. Mary, an eyewitness to the eruption of Mont Pelée