Mountains of Fire The Secret Lives of Volcanoes

About this book

Volcanoes mean more than threat and calamity. Like our parents, they've led whole lives before we get to know them. From Mount Etna in Italy to Mount Erebus in Antarctica, volcanoes are captivating and magical places that have always inspired the human imagination and pioneering exploration.

Having worked in some of the wildest and most inaccessible places on Earth, Professor of Volcanology Clive Oppenheimer has an intimate relationship with volcanoes. His research measuring and mapping these powerful forces reveals just how entangled volcanic activity is with our climate and environment, as well as our economy, politics, culture and beliefs, ultimately defining the course of human history. In Mountains of Fire, we travel with him to the edges of volcano craters across the world, from the most remote peaks in the Sahara to the lush islands of the Caribbean, and from the mystical mountains of North Korea to the fiery depths of Iceland.

Combining science, history, myth and legend with a sense of adventure, Mountains of Fire captures the awe and sheer excitement of working at the crater's edge and reveals the interwoven tales of volcanic nature and humankind.

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Biography

Clive Oppenheimer is a volcanologist and filmmaker. He is a Professor of Volcanology at the University of Cambridge, where he has been based for 25 years. His research seeks to understand how volcanoes work and to probe the connections between eruptions, climate and society. He has conducted fieldwork around the world – either at the crater's edge peering in with assorted monitoring devices or hunting for the far-flung deposits of Earth's greatest eruptions. He has also made two documentary features with legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, Into the Inferno (Netflix, 2016) and Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds (Apple TV+, 2020).