Documents the human experience of the cataclysmic late-18th-century eruption of Iceland's largest volcano to illuminate how its fallout of disease, famine and revolution changed the course of history.-- Source other than Library of Congress.

Originally published with subtitle: The extraordinary story of Laki, the forgotten volcano that turned eighteenth-century Europe dark. London : Profile Books, 2014. With new foreword. 2016-03

Preface : Heimaey, 1973 -- 1. Laki erupts : June 1783 -- 2. Land of ice and fire : the volcanoes of Iceland -- 3. Supervolcanoes : the world's hotspots -- 4. Fire, famine and death : the poisoning of Iceland -- 5. Horrible phenomena : Europe's 'year of wonders' -- 6. The big chill : Laki's global fallout -- 7. Laki today : life in the mountain's shadow -- 8. Death by volcano : the many ways eruptions can kill -- 9. The next big bang : how worried should we be? -- Epilogue : return to Heimaey.