Krakatoa

Got back into town and was catching up on my blog reading when I ran across this and this from James Lileks. Two posts that include praise for the book 'Krakatoa' that I read a few months ago. He enjoyed it more than I did and our reactions were related.
The book has three basic sections: a history of the area, the actual eruption and the aftermath period. The first section details some of the early eruptions including possible mythical ones. It also discusses the spice trade that came through there and the dutch colonization of the area. The weakness (which James liked) is the constant digressions and footnotes. I found it unfocused and distracting. A better history of that area can be found in 'Scents of Eden', a history of the spice trade.
The second section was easily the strongest. The explosion was an enormous event, producing the loudest sound in recorded history. The ash and debris effected weather and sunsets for the next couple of years. The pressure wave actually circled and recircled the earth several times. Interesting stuff.
The third section covers the rebirth of the island and the ecological story of the returning of flora and fauna. Interesting in their attempts to keep the new place free from the human contaimination in order to see what nature would do. It also teases the possibility that radical Islam took root after the explosion with the natives seeing it as anger from Allah. I take that as a stretch. People looking for a reason to rebel or rise up can always find a reason. This is one of the more dramatic ones, but it's not hard to think of other real or manufactured reasons to fight back against the Dutch.
I really liked parts of the book, but certainly not all.