Mountains of Fire: The Secret Lives of Volcanoes

*As heard on DESERT ISLAND DISCS*

CHOSEN AS ONE OF WATERSTONES’ BEST BOOKS OF 2023

‘If Michael Palin had been a volcanologist, this is the book he would have written… A darn good read.’
LITERARY REVIEW

‘What the French adventurer Jacques Cousteau was to the hidden world under our seas, Oppenheimer is to the hidden, molten world bubbling under our feet.’
SUNDAY TIMES

‘A book that will make all readers want to become volcanologists.’
PETER FRANKOPAN

‘Gripping … like a thriller … Oppenheimer is better than good. This is terrific.’
SPECTATOR

‘Beautiful. Mountains of Fire is bursting with poetry, with storytelling. ‘
WERNER HERZOG
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Volcanoes mean so much more than threat and calamity. Like our parents, they’ve led whole lives before we get to know them.

We are made of the same stuff as the breath and cinders of volcanoes. They have long shaped the path of humanity, provoked pioneering explorations and fired up our imaginations. They are fertile ground for agriculture, art and spirituality, as well as scientific advances, and they act as time capsules, capturing the footprints of those who came before us.

World-renowned volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer has worked at the crater’s edge in the wildest places on Earth, from remote peaks in the Sahara to mystical mountains in North Korea. His work reveals just how entangled volcanic activity is with our climate, economy, politics, culture and beliefs. From Antarctica to Italy, he paints volcanoes as otherworldly, magical places where our history is laid bare and where nature speaks to something deep within us.

Blending cultural history, science, myth and adventure, Mountains of Fire reminds us that, wherever we are on the planet, our stories are profoundly intertwined with volcanoes.