I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I am often fascinated with historical disasters and was excited about this book. I had time to skim through it but wish that I could find a physical copy and one of my libraries to look at.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is provided of my own free will and represents my honest opinion.

I have been fascinated by historical disasters for as long as I can remember. I used to read this kind of book in my younger years, which probably sounds terribly macabre. This collection was interesting and informative. The book is well written and well presented and a good starting point for anyone interested in learning more about disasters that have struck throughout history.

I have no idea if reading this under coronasniffles-inspired lockdown was a good thing or not – what is clear is that this selection of historical death, disease and destruction is a great little volume, though. It's a chunky little cube of disaster and dreadfulness, and each one of the places and events it visits gets the standard four-page pattern. We have the introduction (alongside a frankly unnecessary data box-styled crib sheet), and just enough flesh added to the bare bones (of the survivors) to educate the average browser such as I. In the middle and immediately afterwards you get a full-page image, and a cameo-styled image generally on the second page of the text. So while I might generally scoff at books for the adult that are perhaps even more illustrated than those for the primary school reader, books like this (and perhaps this publishing house itself) are showing me the worth of a good picture researcher. I'd have loved to have seen credit for the images, whether they be of Lot's wife, silvered in her salt-like statuesqueness in the distance behind her family, or of Constantinople in full-on grieving at the plague. But that's about the biggest flaw – the writing is clear and easy to read, the pages flying by while we think we're only going to be spending a few minutes at a time here. Updated since it first came out in 2005, this book might not tell any proper historian diddly, but it will entertain and educate with its fine brevity and ease of use. A healthy four stars.

A dip into the worlds disasters- informative, educational and interesting. Well laid out with pictures and text, this gave me many new facts and a new understanding of the impact of certain disasters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Amber Books for an advance reader copy of this book for an honest review.


This book gives a brief summary of some of the worst historical disasters in recorded history. The great plague , the colonization of The America’s, various fires, earthquakes and other disasters are covered - some I was quite familiar with and some that were new information to me.

This book is well laid out, easy to read, with lots of pictures . I love the key facts box that accompanies each disaster .

4 ⭐️

An interesting look at some of the worst disasters that have happened, not sure some of them are world’s worst, but it’s an interesting read, factual, well written and not patronising (as I’ve found some books like this to be). Well laid out, easy to navigate and good pictures with the categories/disasters.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Interesting, concise look at disasters

I liked this book. All the disasters are clearly explained in a conversational tone. The artwork and photos are great. I’m just not sure that all the disasters discussed would fall into the category or “world’s worst”. The book is a 2020 update to the original published in 2005.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

This is a good introductory book on historical disasters, however, it left more events that have got historical repercussions till today which weren't included or not mentioned at all than those which the authors put. Some of these disasters are;

1. Fall of Man: The sin of Adam and Eve is the result of all subsequent disasters in the world as all their descendants became evil and depraved, that's why we commit evils.
2. The Fall of Ancient civilisations of Phoenicia, Carthage, Petra, Babylon, and Nineveh.
3. Fall and destruction of Jerusalem, first by Babylon, then by Roman. The problems which happen in Middle East till today are attributable to this.
4. Death of Alexander the Great at a very tender age.
5. Eruptions of Ilopango volcano, in the 6th century, and another one in Iceland in 536.
6. The islamic invasion. It brought fall of various empires, civilisations, and personhood. Infact, its invasion in India is thought to be the worst holocaust in history as over 100m Indians were killed!
7. Fall of Byzantine empire and Constantinople. It changed Europe and Middle East forever.
8. Deforestation of Easter Island!
9. Scramble and partition of Africa by Europe, the subsequent colonization, and then effects felt in Africa till now.
10. Destruction of Benin City (Second largest man made wall after Great Wall of China) by the British in 1897.
11. Congo killing fields by the Monster of Congo, King Leopold of Belgium. He killed over 15m congolese!
12. Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austro-Hungary Empire, thus setting off World War 1.
13. Armenian Genocide by the Turks.
14. Soviet Gulags. No need of saying what happened.
15. The Jewish Holocaust!
16. 20th century dictators all over the world.
17. The Vietnam War.
18. Biafra War.
19. Siad Barre atrocities in Somalia, whose effects changed the Horn of Africa forever!
20. The Rwandan Genocide!
21. So called 'War on Terror' by US and its partner states militarism.
22. The 'Arab Spring' which transformed Middle East and Europe for the worse! Just look at Libya and Syria.

In retrospect, this events which the author haven't mentioned are more of historical importance than most which they've included in this book.

Lavish with photographs and illustrations, this book makes an absorbing cocfes-tablevread, no matter how unedifying the su ject matter!

The introduction reminds the reader t hf at whilst many disasters are acts of God as defined by insurance brokers, many are due to human hand too, in one way or another, whether or not by accident or design. Accordingly, several famous 20th Century shipwrecks find there way here. such as the Titanic, down to human misjudgement, but also the Lusitania, which was fled by a German U-boat.

The earliest disasters gave taken place so far in time that it it still impossible to tell when and how it happened such as Noah's Flood. Then there is the destruction of Sodom and, Gomorrah, though it was a little disappointing that the author ignores the archaeological findings of Tall el Hammam. The Theran eruption that meant the death knell for the Minoan civilisation also takes place of honour for earlier cataclysms.

There are several case histories of disasters befalling other cities, making it clearer that settlements like these may be as much vulnerable to earthquakes as they are to war and strife as well as famine.

Several pandemics are mentioned, including those of the Black Death and Justinian - all the way to the Spanish Flu. Quarantine meanwhile, has never gone out of use as a means to contain plagues, then or now.

Then there are earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones, all the way up to the present, with air crashes alongside accidents, with space rocketry.

The book does not really go into deep analysis on how disasters happen, but this book should still satisfy the curiosity of a few readers, and perhaps open said readers to questions on how many of these events are avoidable - and how many others, not.

A truly interesting and informative collection. The layout makes the book easy to navigate and and the reader is able to either read chronologically or choose based on interest.
As someone who finds these histories absolutely fascinating, it was great to discover new events that I had never heard of as well as expanding knowledge of one's I had.
Unlike many other books of this kind, the author creates an engaging narrative that keeps the reader immersed throughout. This is most definitely a book to read.