Reference Reviews

Doug’s Student Reference Room

Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental and Human Tragedies, edited by Angus M. Gunn. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. 2 vols. 733 pp. ISBN: 978-0-313-34004-8. $175.00

These two volumes provide a comprehensive look at environmental catastrophes and human tragedies, delving through history as far back as 74,000 B.C. The primary criteria for selection in this collection include the amount of damage done to structures; the number of human fatalities; and the event’s long-term consequences. In the introduction, Gunn points out that tragedy involving human choices continues to increase and reminds readers that preservation of our global environment might rely, in part, upon understanding the destructive power of disasters. The comprehensive introduction provides an overview for both volumes, emphasizing that the majority of disasters portrayed are environmental catastrophes, which are the costliest, most deadly, and least predictable. Gunn suggests that our failure to learn from past disasters leads to repeat encounters with such tragedy—tragedy that might be avoided with careful study and planning. The editor also highlights human responsibility for climactic shifts in the environment and points out that human-induced disasters can result from the error of a single person, such as the poisonous gas leak in Bhopal, India in 1984 which killed more than 2,000 people and sickened 200,000 more. Disaster events are presented in chronological order for easy access. Each disaster event is introduced with a brief overview, followed by a detailed description. References are provided for further study, as well as four appendices: a chronological list of the largest worldwide earthquakes in the past 5 centuries, the 25 deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history, the world’s deadliest disasters organized by type, and methods of measuring natural disasters. A brief bibliography of print resources and an index conclude the set. Recommended for high school and public libraries.
—Doug Achterman