Review:
This book is an account of the November 1985 Nevado Del Ruiz eruption that killed more than 23,000 people and destroyed the city of Armero, as well as an account of the January 1993 Galeras eruption that killed six scientists and three tourists.
While the accounts were interesting (and horrifying), this was initially looking like a 3-star read for me due to what I saw as organizational issues and a lack of focus. Yes, the eruptions both took place in Colombia, and some of the same people, such as Colombian geologist Marta Calvache, came up in conjunction with both of them, but I had trouble keeping track of why they were related enough to base a book on both of them. The Nevado Del Ruiz eruption was horrific and resulted in an enormous loss of life. The eruption in Galeras was much smaller and only killed people because they happened to be in the crater (and, for the most part, not wearing proper safety equipment). I should add that I don't read a lot of nonfiction and tend to have attention span issues with it, so that could definitely have been a factor in my overall feelings.
