A review by ocurtsinger
Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens by Steve Olson

4.0

A rich and multifaceted historical analysis of the Mount St Helens blast and its political and environmental implications. I am too young to remember the eruption, but I have lived in the Northwest for ten years and had never heard about most of the political details and personal histories that came out of what Olson and many others have called the most important historical event of the Pacific Northwest. I had only heard of Harry Truman and his stubborn refusal to leave his cabin; Olson gives voices here to at least twenty other personal accounts that are so fraught with peril that my hair stood on end while reading them. This is a book that showcases Olson's talent for being not only a great historian, but a detective, journalist, and environmental writer.