Man Made Catastrophes

By Lee A. Davis

In the same way that natural disasters have seemingly proliferated since 1990, there has also been an increase in the number of catastrophes caused by human error or destructive motivation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816044198
• ISBN13: 9780816044191
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Checkmark Books
• Length: 402 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 1.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Compendium of Man-Made Disasters throughout History!

This is the second edition of a reference book originally published in 1993. If your interest is tragic air crashes, fires, sinkings, nuclear accidents and miscellaneous tragedies brought about by the hand of man, this book is for you. In almost 400 entries, author Lee Davis presents 2,000 years of disasters primarily caused by human stupidity, neglect, greed and a host of other causes from around the globe. No one-volume history could describe in detail all man-made disasters of the past 2,000 years. Though Davis' book includes such events as the fire that ravaged Rome in 64 AD, most entries deal with events in the last 200 years. He breaks down the events into eight categories - Air Crashes, Civil Unrest and terrorism, Explosions, etc. - and then provides lists, for example, of 'The Worst Recorded Air Crashes' arranged by country/location followed by a chronological list. After a one-three page overview of that particular disaster category, Davis examines many but not all of those events in summaries ranging in length from a 1/4 of a page to several pages. One hundred photos complement the text. This volume is obviously great for students writing reports, covering, as it does, events ranging from the Tay River Bridge railway disaster in 1879, the St. Bartholomew's Massacre in 1572, the 1666 London fire, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, etc. Knowledge junkies will appreciate it - 'enjoy' seems somehow wrong - as well. And, though some may view this as a 'Magical Misery Tour,' Davis sometimes includes examples of the bravery and nobility of those frail humans caught in the midst of these horrendous events. And, aside from the human toll, many of these tragedies also had sometimes major and long-listing consequences which Davis covers quite well.