John Withington's book is an epic journey through the annals of the disastrous events that have marked human history. In Part I are all the major natural calamities - floods, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tsunamis, plague and famine. Part II describes in vivid detail the greatest man-made disasters - war and invasion, persecution and massacre, riots and terrorism, explosions and fires, shipwrecks and air crashes. Out of all this horror, the author produces a highly entertaining and throught-provoking book.