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A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 Audiobook
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(3.01) - 2,546 listener ratings
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The international bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman and Krakatoa vividly brings to life the 1906San Francisco Earthquake that leveled a city symbolic of America's relentless western expansion. Simon Winchester has also fashioned an enthralling and informative informative look at the tumultuous subterranean world that produces earthquakes, the planet's most sudden and destructive force.
In the early morning hours of April 18, 1906, San Francisco and a string of towns to its north-northwest and the south-southeast were overcome by an enormous shaking that was compounded by the violent shocks of an earthquake, registering 8.25 on the Richter scale. The quake resulted from a rupture in a part of the San Andreas fault, which lies underneath the earth's surface along the northern coast of California. Lasting little more than a minute, the earthquake wrecked 490 blocks, toppled a total of 25,000 buildings, broke open gas mains, cut off electric power lines throughout the Bay area, and effectively destroyed the gold rush capital that had stood there for a half century.
Perhaps more significant than the tremors and rumbling, which affected a swatch of California more than 200 miles long, were the fires that took over the city for three days, leaving chaos and horror in its wake. The human tragedy included the deaths of upwards of 700 people, with more than 250,000 left homeless. It was perhaps the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.
Simon Winchester brings his inimitable storytelling abilities -- as well as his unique understanding of geology -- to this extraordinary event, exploring not only what happened in northern California in 1906 but what we have learned since about the geological underpinnings that caused the earthquake in the first place. But his achievement is even greater: he positions the quake's significance along the earth's geological timeline and shows the effect it had on the rest of twentieth-century California and American history.
A Crack in the Edge of the World is the definitive account of the San Francisco earthquake. It is also a fascinating exploration of a legendary event that changed the way we look at the planet on which we live.
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"The story of the 8.25 magnitude earthquake that struck San Francisco on april 18, 1906 with its resultant fire. As fascinating as the description of the earthquake and fire were (and by the way, they only hit the scene about a third of the way into the book), equally fascinating was the author's explanation of the subterranean activity that produced this earthquake and is certain to produce another of equal magniture in the future. There was also some scary information about Yellowstone National Park blowing up and killing all of us. But that's another story for another day."
— Judy (4 out of 5 stars)
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“In this brawny page-turner, bestselling writer Winchester has crafted a magnificent testament to the power of planet Earth and the efforts of humankind to understand her…With fabulous style, wit and grace, Winchester casts doubt on the very notion of solid ground and invites the reader to ponder the planet they live on, from both inside and out.”
— Publisher Weekly (starred review) -
“What Winchester did for the 1883 cataclysmic eruption of a South Pacific volcano in Krakatoa, he now does for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake—that is, making a significant geological incident understandable and even exciting to the lay reader not only in its scientific terms but also within a broad historical, political, and social context.”
— Booklist -
“Filled with eyewitness accounts, vivid descriptions, crisp prose, and many delightful meanderings, A Crack in the Edge of the World is a thoroughly absorbing tale.”
— Library Journal -
“Winchester is an engaging tour guide, and his tale a humbling one. Humankind exists, he concludes, by ‘the planet’s consent.’”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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Audie Award Finalist
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New York Times bestseller
A Crack in the Edge of the World Listener Reviews
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" The epilogue is the best part of the book. Alaskans, this man tells it like it is, something that is done too infrequently in books that may mention Alaska in passing. I won't say anymore, but we can all relate. "
— Nerdymko, 2/7/2014 -
" Serendipitous that I put down Assembling California and picked up A Crack in the Edge of the World. Some of the same ground (no pun intended), but soo much better and accessible. Simon Winchester always does it right. Some of the most riveting nonfiction I've read. "
— Lana, 2/6/2014 -
" I only made it through half of this book. I was expecting it to be more like the other Simon Winchester book about the history of the dictionary. Instead to build up to what happened during the earthquake he literally does a history of the entire universe and how it was formed and plate tectonics and just a little too much extremely complicated science for my liking. I might go pack and finish it because it had promise but I had more interesting books come in to the library so for now this will have to wait. "
— Alison, 1/30/2014 -
" I always enjoy Simon Winchester's books but this one didn't focus as much on the San Francisco earthquake as I would have expected from a 400 page book. "
— Amy, 1/26/2014 -
" I abandoned this one. This is not a bad book if you are looking for a scientific treatise on the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and, well, earthquakes and plate tectonics in general. It was especially difficult to follow on audiobook in the car. (I changed lanes in a hurry to get to my exit and missed half of the Gaia theory!) It just wasn't what I wanted. I wanted a narrative popular history of the event with tidbits from diaries and newspapers. For that, I will need to look elsewhere. "
— Ms., 1/21/2014 -
" Audiobook - Ug. I stopped after only 6 minutes. After the first two minutes I said to myself, "Gee, I haven't been listening to this at all. I should pay attention." After four minutes I said, "Wow. I really can't pay attention to this. It's boring." After 5.8 minutes I said, "Just. Shut. UP." and took out the disc. Oh well. Win some, lose some. "
— Laura, 1/20/2014 -
" Great book...the science is very well explained, the human stories are compelling, the history is really interesting "
— doug, 1/5/2014 -
" Disaster books are usually guaranteed to be 5 stars for me, but this was like getting punched in the face with geology. Yay science? but not what I signed up for. Still, really enjoyed it overall. "
— lesleymac, 1/4/2014 -
" Fantastic non-fiction about the San Fran earthquake of 1906. Mostly explains the geology in very-readable language. Made me terrified to live in the city by the bay... "
— Ariel, 12/23/2013 -
" I love this author and expected this book to be really good. It was pretty boring and I didn't learn as much as I had hoped. "
— Mellanee, 12/3/2013 -
" A good book, but not this authors best. I enjoyed it up to a point, but at some point it got a little tedious. Right up my line, I enjoy reading about science and the history of how some fragments of human knowledge came to be learned. "
— Alain, 11/24/2013 -
" Perhaps my favorite of Simon Winchesters (all of his books are worth reading) - likely because he spends so much time talking about California and the Bay Area. Will also give you a wide education on geology, history of Earthquake preparation, predictions, and disasters! "
— Autumn, 10/22/2013 -
" I was recently invited to join a book club. This is the book for our next (my first) meeting. It's a fascinating book. My husband is eager to read it after me as it is all about geology. "
— Alice, 7/30/2013 -
" I just couldn't get into this book. I'm not going to finish. I loved The Professor and the Madman and so thought I'd check this out but geology just doesn't grab me the same way I guess. "
— Maya, 11/9/2012 -
" Sounds like a local read but follows the fault across the globe...beware this can get technical -- it is well done and fascinating. "
— Gena, 11/4/2012 -
" Like everything by him that I've read - brilliant! "
— Patricia, 6/22/2012 -
" Excellent information on plate tectonics written in a very enjoyable read. "
— Mamatoe, 5/21/2012 -
" I loved the second half of the book--which was more about the actual SF earthquake--the first half, which was just plate tectonics and genearal geology was a little dry... "
— Jessica, 5/17/2012 -
" The book reads like a college course with a great professor. Putting together the disparate pieces of the story of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 in a fascinating way. If you know and love San Francisco, California, history or geology, you find something to like in this book. "
— Karl, 3/28/2012 -
" Love Winchester's books for the social histories and obscure facts and connections he makes. The San Francisco earthquake seems to be only an excuse to write about about all things earthquake. Just as he did in Krakatoa. "
— Rochelle, 3/14/2012 -
" The geology explanations are the strong point of this book. The description of the actual quake is less compelling than I expected. "
— Kim, 8/2/2011 -
" Winchester tends to be hit-and-miss for me. This one was surprisingly dull for a book about one of the biggest earthquakes in recorded history. "
— Brianna, 6/22/2011 -
" Winchester is a master of both the English language and the subjects he writes about. He's not always easy to understand, but he knoweth whereof he speaketh, and he speaketh well, of a truth. "
— Horton, 5/8/2011 -
" Good non-fiction writer. His vocab is over my head at times, which I like. I thought I would find it slightly dull but I motored through it very quickly. He has over 20 other books so I will always have something to buy at the bookstore. "
— Kristi, 4/29/2011 -
" For me this book was just too detailed, for everything he wanted to explain about the explosion he had to go off and explain about lots of other seemingly irrelevant things - for instance a species of bird, the exact messages sent by all the ships sailing close by that day. "
— Katrina, 4/24/2011 -
" A very interesting and well written book covering the eruption of Krakatoa, the history of geology and many fascinating connections. "
— Catherine, 4/21/2011 -
" Like most of Winchester's work, it has lots of details and is interesting and readable.<br/> "
— Bill, 4/19/2011 -
" Very interesting....but for such an amazing historical event it reads a bit like a bland historical account. I'm glad I read it for the knowledge gained but would have enjoyed it more from a better storyteller, I think. "
— Johanna, 4/1/2011 -
" I think I'd give this a 3.5 rating. We listened to it as we drove to North Carolina and part of the way back, which is a pretty long trip. It was a pretty long book. It was a little more than I wanted to know about Krakatoa, but I'd still recommend it. "
— Nancy, 3/27/2011 -
" Phenomenal discourse on pretty much every world event that even remotely had to do with this volcanic eruption. A little ploddy in parts, but the information is SOOOO worth it. That's why I gave it all those stars. rock on. "
— Maggiemaxfield, 3/22/2011 -
" SO far so good! Good history of this geographic area, which I know nothing about. "
— Jennifer, 3/19/2011 -
" Really enjoyed his portrayal of the many facets of this one eruption, physical and human. A quick, understandable and really enjoyable read. "
— Greg, 3/13/2011
About Simon Winchester
Simon Winchester is the acclaimed author of many books, including The Professor and the Madman, The Men Who United the States, The Map That Changed the World, The Man Who Loved China, A Crack in the Edge of the World, and Krakatoa, all of which were New York Times bestsellers and appeared on numerous best books of the year lists. In 2006, he was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen.