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A review by specimenstoriesjr
Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens by Steve Olson
5.0
I am a smidge too young to remember the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, but I have visited the mountain many times since childhood and read whatever I can get my hands on about it. This, hands-down, is the best book on the subject. It adequately skims the technical nitty-gritty geology of the eruption (which I also enjoy, but is easily found in many other sources) in favor of placing the eruption in its social and political context, stories generally untold elsewhere.
Much of the first portion of the book tells the history of the Weyerhaeuser company, which owned the mountaintop at the time of the eruption, and which was a major player in land management before and after. Full disclosure: my interest in this section may have been enhanced because I am currently working on a project at a portion of the former company headquarters...other readers could find it goes into more detail about the Weyerhaeuser company and founders than strictly necessary.
Stories of the victims and witnesses to the eruption are well told and vividly recreated, well researched and not oversensationalized. The heartbreaking failure of the exclusion zone to be expanded to the north and west--which turned out to be in the immediate path of the eruption--is well explained, as is the initial victim-blaming by the power players that persists to this day.
My only tiny complaint about the book is that there are not enough photos or maps. Those that are included feel like the bare minimum; I found myself frequently reaching for Google to look up a location or photograph referenced but not included. Still, that was all stuff easily located online and in my opinion a fascinating book that sparks curiosity to go find out even more is a book well done.
Much of the first portion of the book tells the history of the Weyerhaeuser company, which owned the mountaintop at the time of the eruption, and which was a major player in land management before and after. Full disclosure: my interest in this section may have been enhanced because I am currently working on a project at a portion of the former company headquarters...other readers could find it goes into more detail about the Weyerhaeuser company and founders than strictly necessary.
Stories of the victims and witnesses to the eruption are well told and vividly recreated, well researched and not oversensationalized. The heartbreaking failure of the exclusion zone to be expanded to the north and west--which turned out to be in the immediate path of the eruption--is well explained, as is the initial victim-blaming by the power players that persists to this day.
My only tiny complaint about the book is that there are not enough photos or maps. Those that are included feel like the bare minimum; I found myself frequently reaching for Google to look up a location or photograph referenced but not included. Still, that was all stuff easily located online and in my opinion a fascinating book that sparks curiosity to go find out even more is a book well done.