Book Review: The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us
The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (And What We Can Do About Them)
Genre: Nonfiction (disasters!)
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Publication Date: April 17, 2018
Rating: 4 stars
GoodReads ~~~ Amazon
Description: Natural disasters emerge from the same forces that give our planet life. Earthquakes have provided us with natural springs. Volcanoes have given us fertile soil. A world without floods would be a world without rain. It is only when these forces exceed our ability to withstand them that they become disasters. Together, these colossal events have shaped our cities and their architecture; elevated leaders and toppled governments; influenced the way we reason, feel, fight, unite, and pray. The history of natural disasters is a history of ourselves.
Review: I super love natural disasters. I am, in fact, a supernatural disaster geek. (This stems from a life time of never actually having been in one.) So I saw this book on Edelweiss, and instantly clicked the "request it" button, and I'm very glad I did.
It's great! It's a summation of some of the world's biggest natural disasters, but also how societies dealt with - and are still dealing with - them. It delves not only into who we are as humans, but at how we can look at past disasters to help shape how we can present ourselves going forward. The tone was light, with some humor scattered throughout, it was a very engaging read, no slogging involved. It had enough anecdotes for me to get my disaster fix it, and made me pause and think about how I would react in these situations.
All in all, a must-read for any fan of natural disasters, human nature, or non-fiction.
(Thanks Edeweiss, for my free review copy.)
I don't read a LOT of non-fiction, but I think I need to read this... Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteI may have to look into this one - it may help with creating disasters in my sci-fi/fantasy works. Thank you! <3
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