The Last Day: Wrath, Ruin, And Reason In The Great Lisbon Earthquake Of 1755
by Nicholas Shrady /
2008 / English / PDF
191.6 MB Download
A riveting history of how the cataclysmic Lisbon earthquake shook
the religious and intellectual foundations of Enlightenment Europe.
Along with the volcanic destruction of Pompeii and the 1906 San
Francisco earthquake, the Lisbon quake of 1755 is one of the most
destructive natural disasters ever recorded. After being jolted by
a massive quake, Lisbon was then pounded by a succession of tidal
waves and finally reduced to ash by a fire that raged for five
straight days. In The Last Day, Nicholas Shrady provides not only a
vivid account of this horrific disaster but also a stimulating
survey of the many shock waves it sent throughout Western
civilization. When news of the quake spread, it inspired both a
lurid fascination in the popular imagination of Europe and an
intellectual debate about the natural world and God's place in
human affairs. Voltaire, Alexander Pope, Immanuel Kant, and
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, among other eminent figures, took up the
disaster as a sort of cause célèbre and a vehicle to express
Enlightenment ideas. More practically, the Lisbon quake led to the
first concerted effort at disaster control, modern urban planning,
and the birth of seismology. The Last Day is popular history
writing at its best and will appeal to readers of Simon
Winchester's Krakatoa and A Crack in the Edge of the World.
A riveting history of how the cataclysmic Lisbon earthquake shook
the religious and intellectual foundations of Enlightenment Europe.
Along with the volcanic destruction of Pompeii and the 1906 San
Francisco earthquake, the Lisbon quake of 1755 is one of the most
destructive natural disasters ever recorded. After being jolted by
a massive quake, Lisbon was then pounded by a succession of tidal
waves and finally reduced to ash by a fire that raged for five
straight days. In The Last Day, Nicholas Shrady provides not only a
vivid account of this horrific disaster but also a stimulating
survey of the many shock waves it sent throughout Western
civilization. When news of the quake spread, it inspired both a
lurid fascination in the popular imagination of Europe and an
intellectual debate about the natural world and God's place in
human affairs. Voltaire, Alexander Pope, Immanuel Kant, and
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, among other eminent figures, took up the
disaster as a sort of cause célèbre and a vehicle to express
Enlightenment ideas. More practically, the Lisbon quake led to the
first concerted effort at disaster control, modern urban planning,
and the birth of seismology. The Last Day is popular history
writing at its best and will appeal to readers of Simon
Winchester's Krakatoa and A Crack in the Edge of the World.