50
Used, New, and Out of Print Books - We Buy and Sell - Powell's Books
Cart |
|  my account  |  wish list  |  help   |  800-878-7323
Hello, | Login
MENU
  • Browse
    • New Arrivals
    • Bestsellers
    • Featured Preorders
    • Award Winners
    • Audio Books
    • See All Subjects
  • Used
  • Staff Picks
    • Staff Picks
    • Picks of the Month
    • Bookseller Displays
    • 50 Books for 50 Years
    • 25 Best 21st Century Sci-Fi & Fantasy
    • 25 PNW Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books From the 21st Century
    • 25 Memoirs to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Global Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Women to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books to Read Before You Die
  • Gifts
    • Gift Cards & eGift Cards
    • Powell's Souvenirs
    • Journals and Notebooks
    • socks
    • Games
  • Sell Books
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Find A Store

Don't Miss

  • Scientifically Proven Sale
  • Staff Top Fives of 2022
  • Best Books of 2022
  • Powell's Author Events
  • Oregon Battle of the Books
  • Audio Books

Visit Our Stores


Harper C.: Five Book Friday: Uncanny Graphic Novels (0 comment)
We are in the thick of winter here in the Pacific Northwest, which means it's dark, damp, and chilly. Rather than escaping to stories with warmer, brighter climates, I personally want nothing more than to dive deep into gothic and uncanny fiction as the wind rattles my windows at night...
Read More»
  • Powell's Staff: New Literature in Translation: December 2022 and January 2023 (0 comment)
  • Kelsey Ford: From the Stacks: J. M. Ledgard's Submergence (0 comment)

{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St Helens

by Steve Olson
Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St Helens

  • Comment on this title
  • Synopses & Reviews
  • Read an Original Essay

ISBN13: 9780393242799
ISBN10: 039324279X
Condition: Standard
DustJacket: Standard

All Product Details

View Larger ImageView Larger Images
Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$17.95
List Price:$27.95
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
QtyStore
3Burnside

From Powells.com



Staff Pick

A well-written, often riveting account of Mount St. Helens before, during, and after its famed 1980 reawakening, Steve Olson's Eruption delves into the weeks of uncertainty that preceded and followed the mountain's explosion, framing the monumental event in the context of the timber industry, Pacific Northwest politics, the history of the Forest Service, and ongoing conversation efforts. In addition to chronicling the blast, avalanche, flooding, and ashfall that devastated the region and took the lives of 57 people, Eruption also considers the volcano's legacy and the scientific developments of the last 35 years.

Like all great popular science books, Eruption offers insight not only into its subject, but also a variety of ancillary ones that lend the story greater depth, color, and perspective. With an extensive bibliography, it's evident Olson did considerable research in preparation for the book. For those interested in Mount St. Helens specifically, or volcanology in general, Eruption offers a personal, political, and polyphonic account of a remarkable natural disaster that continues to shape the region decades later. Recommended By Jeremy G., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Survival narrative meets scientific, natural, and social history in the riveting story of a volcanic disaster.

For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, sightseers, and nearby residents listened anxiously to rumblings in Mount St. Helens, part of the chain of western volcanoes fueled by the 700-mile-long Cascadia fault. Still, no one was prepared when an immense eruption took the top off of the mountain and laid waste to hundreds of square miles of verdant forests in southwestern Washington State. The eruption was one of the largest in human history, deposited ash in eleven U.S. states and five Canadian provinces, and caused more than one billion dollars in damage. It killed fifty-seven people, some as far as thirteen miles away from the volcano’s summit.

Shedding new light on the cataclysm, author Steve Olson interweaves the history and science behind this event with page-turning accounts of what happened to those who lived and those who died.

Powerful economic and historical forces influenced the fates of those around the volcano that sunny Sunday morning, including the construction of the nation’s railroads, the harvest of a continent’s vast forests, and the protection of America’s treasured public lands. The eruption of Mount St. Helens revealed how the past is constantly present in the lives of us all. At the same time, it transformed volcanic science, the study of environmental resilience, and, ultimately, our perceptions of what it will take to survive on an increasingly dangerous planet.

Rich with vivid personal stories of lumber tycoons, loggers, volcanologists, and conservationists, Eruption delivers a spellbinding narrative built from the testimonies of those closest to the disaster, and an epic tale of our fraught relationship with the natural world.

Review

“Steve Olson has brought new dimensions to my experience of the mountain. [He] masterfully delineates the personal histories, cultural assumptions, values, visions, and preconceptions that were brought to bear on the mountain that day. He has the gift of clarity and an enviable ability to find and make drama, present the human narrative, and engage his readers on multiple levels.” David Guterson, author of Snow Falling on Cedars

Review

“Olson brings cinematic structure to descriptions of the events surrounding the eruption of Mount St. Helens….[A] detailed and human-centered look at a terrible disaster.” Publisher's Weekly

About the Author

Steve Olson is the author of Mapping Human History (a finalist for the National Book Award) and Count Down, among other books. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Steve Olson on PowellsBooks.Blog

Mount St. Helens belongs as much to Oregon as Washington. Relatively few people in Washington live within sight of the mountain, while hundreds of thousands of Oregonians can see its truncated peak on any clear day. When the volcano began erupting in 1980, Portland got more ashfall than most major Washington cities...

Read More»


4.5 3

What Our Readers Are Saying

Share your thoughts on this title!
Average customer rating 4.5 (3 comments)

`
Scientist , September 21, 2017
I haven't read the book yet, but I have to take issue with the publisher's description here: "no one was prepared" is false - the eruption was expected for weeks in advance and many people were evacuated. The famous Harry Truman refused to evacuate and unfortunately experienced the expected outcome. Also "one of the largest eruptions in human history" is another gross exaggeration - St. Helen's was relatively small compared to the super volcanos such as Tambora or even Pinatubo in 1991. I'm a huge fan of pop-science books, but please don't try to hype them with inaccurate or purposely exaggerated data. That just flies in the face of the science that underlies these excellent books.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No

(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment

`
Old Science , May 26, 2016
An excellent account of the events of May 18, 1980, with comprehensive historical background to provide a complete picture of the area. A fair amount of the commentary from the time of the eruption parallels the 45-minute Youtube video called "Minute by Minute: The Eruption of Mt. St. Helens, but it adds much more detail and insight into the people who survived, as well as those who didn't. Very well written, an enjoyable read as Mt. St. Helens rumbles in the distance, perhaps to wake again.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No

(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment

`
KMuston , March 02, 2016
This is a riveting story not only about the natural event but about the ongoing consequences and influences on human lives following the eruption. It gives terrific insight into the impact of natural disasters and events on humanity.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No

(2 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment




Product Details

ISBN:
9780393242799
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
03/07/2016
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Pages:
320
Author:
Steve Olson
Media Run Time:
B

Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$17.95
List Price:$27.95
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
QtyStore
3Burnside

More copies of this ISBN

  • Used, Hardcover, $18.50

This title in other editions

  • New, Trade Paperback, $16.95
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

  • Help
  • Guarantee
  • My Account
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Security
  • Wish List
  • Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Shipping
  • Transparency ACT MRF
  • Sitemap
  • © 2023 POWELLS.COM Terms

{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##