A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906

Simon Winchester has written another insightful and satisfying book in "A Crack in the Edge of the World." I am still impressed with his ability to take subjects that many people would otherwise ignore and present them in a way that makes them accessible - and this is not done by oversimplifying the subject matter; Winchester doesn't reduce his material to "USA Today" levels or simply present a bunch of figures and statistics. Instead he tells a story, and much as he did in "Korea: A Walk through the Land of Miracles," "The Map that Changed the World" and "Krakatoa," Winchester takes the reader on a journey of discovery.As the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 has been covered in great detail more times than I can count, I was a bit skeptical of the book when I first heard of it. Yet the eruption of Krakatoa/Krakatau had been beaten to death, and that didn't stop Winchester from offering new perspectives, and the notoriety of the 1906 quake doesn't stop "A Crack in the Edge of the World" from being another winner.Winchester begins with various firsthand accounts of the 1906 earthquake, and from there Winchester diverts to the other side of the North American Plate -Iceland - and continues on through the history of North America. In fact, he goes all the way back to the days when Earth was nothing more than a ball of magma. Only Winchester goes from a road trip across America to the formation of the first wretched continents in the Earth's youth to the foundation of the village of Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) within a couple of chapters. Without a doubt, those readers whom Winchester frustrated in the past will be so again; Winchester takes his time before recounting the story of the quake itself. However, this method is what helped him turn the familiar story of Krakatoa into a remarkable combination of plate tectonics, Indonesian history and religion, biology, and the birth of the global news media that went far beyond the eruption itself. Patient readers will see a night on Mount Diablo lead into North America's geologic past and -most significantly- the portrait of the "Mischief Maker," the San Andreas Fault. Added to all this are plenty of Winchester's dry humor and anecdotes that have become his trademark.Each time Winchester discusses a new subject in the book, he often ties it into his drive across America and Canada, and specifically his stops in those places with a history of earthquakes. These include not only the usual suspects such as California and Alaska, but the Central Mississippi lands that unleashed the monstrous New Madrid quakes (which Winchester provides with some shocking geologic significance), and the unlikely home of a frighteningly active seismic past: Charleston, South Carolina. Eventually, Winchester reaches California with his outstanding chapter on the San Andreas Fault, and this is where he really earns his cover price. Winchester starts from its northern end off Cape Mendocino and follows it to the deserts of Southern California. Along the way he visits the features that distinguish the "SAF," from rugged hills to rich dot-com boomtowns and from torn highways to crumbling cliff mansions. In fact, Winchester's history of the San Andreas becomes so detailed in its records of its fits and tantrums that the killer fault begins to seem like just another personality in California's landscape of oddities. He suceeds completely in making the San Andreas Fault, so long a hosehold name but one shrouded in ominous mystery, easy to comprehend, and this is where his ability to bring science to the liberal arts major masses (like me!) is at its most impressive.Then Winchester focuses at last on San Francisco itself, a entertaining and uniquely Californian tale of the lawless crush of the 49ers, the perfect seaport and the coming of the railroads, the villians and entrepeneurs, the loss of the recogition as First City in the West to Los Angeles, and the modern, 'fragile' city of today. Inexorably linked to the city is the San Andreas. The violence it generated in 1906 is shown to be a sea change in the history of San Francisco itself, of California, and of America as a whole. Winchester also spends plenty of time with the personalities of 1906, from Mayor Schmitz to Ansel Adams. It is true though, as others have noted, that the story of San Francisco itself is not comprehensive: look to dedicated history books for that.Although Winchester's tendency to shift gears so often in this book can be bothersome to those who are unfamiliar with (or dislike) his style, its only real drawback is when it barely touches on so many things that could be (and have been) heavy books in their own right, such as the New Madrid quakes, the wacko geology of the Pacific Northwest, and the history of Los Angeles (For a similar perspective on LA, see Marc Reisner's must-read, "A Dangerous Place"). I also can't say I agree with Winchester's assertion that Vesuvio is the only volcano on the European mainland (hello, Campi Flegrei), nor do I think he spent enough time on the inaccuracies of the Richter Scale as compared to other seismic scales, but he has age and several degrees on me, so I won't press the subject.If you're a fan of Simon Winchester's previous books, especially "Krakatoa," this one's for you, too. If you found his stream-of-conciousness science bothersome in the past, then you won't like this any better, but for those who are merely curious when they see this on the shelf, "A Crack in the Edge of the World" is an excellent trip across America that brings new light to the stories of San Francisco, California, and the San Andreas.

I bought this book to learn how the 1906 San Francisco earthquake ties into the giant Yellowstone "possible cataclysmic devastation" that might happen anytime. Yes, Simon Winchester does have a tie in this book.Simon's writing is crisp, clear and interesting. He sprinkles some humor with lots of factual information of many topics of earthquakes, volcanoes and more. Much more than the San Francisco earthquake. Information on Alaska and the pipeline of today. Information of Plate Tectonics,the different plates that are moving and the various faults around the world. Volcanic Iceland is mentioned. Also a chapter on the evolution of the continents and the far distant past of the Earth.There is information about some of the rich people that lived in San Francisco and the great tenor singer Caruso who was quoted saying "One hellava town" about San Francisco while he was there when the great 1906 Earthquake happened.There is also information of the Chinese immigrants in Chinatown in San Francisco and the terrible racial prejudice against them and the terrible living conditions they had to live in. Also them as "paper people" as their dwellings were destroyed and their addresses lost in the great fire.We see the great fire of San Francisco that destroyed much much more of the city than the earthquake did. We see the poor building construction and lack of adequate fire fighting facilities and equipment that contributed to the almost total loss of the city due to fire after the 1906 earthquake.This book brought forth a history I never heard about in high school or college. Fascinating! There are some very interesting B/W pictures sprinkled throughout the book.We learn that Simon believes that much of the western part of the US and Alaska are tied into earthquake happenings. What happens in one part of the country may influence another. Yellowstone has had 3 major eruptions. The latest about 600,000 years ago and could go at anytime thus wiping out much of the western US and maybe a worldwide cataclysm.We learn that some volcanic eruptions can be predicted with the science of today but there is no sure fire way to predict earthquakes. A fascinating read with lots of different information some of which you may never of heard about. A great book with much more information in it than I expected. 5 stars and recommended.

An absorbing account of a timeless subject delivered in near perfect prose.

This book makes geology exciting! Past and present processes in plate tectonics are beautifully described here. I grew up in the foothills of Mount Diablo, California, which is a special example described in a chapter of the book. I had always wondered about how the rippling layers of rock could possibly have formed, and how fossils from the former sea floor made it up so high! I love this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in California, general history, geology or the natural world. Winchester writes well and tells a good story. The book is gripping.

Writing is not very good. It is a little too boring to read. But if you are studying geology, you may consider it as a textbook, and you may get some useful information about the topic.

Un altro dei libri di Simon wintchester che torno a rileggere di tanto in tanto. Oltre ad un resoconto preciso del terremoto della città offre una pletora di informazioni e osservazioni sulla geologia e sociologia. Assolutamente consigliato

I approached this book with high hopes for it being a ripping yarn. Sadly so far it is a somewhat dull discourse describing the origins of California and the geography of the San Andreas fault among other things. Perhaps it will get better later but it's not in the same class as his earlier book on Krakatoa.