Victoria Bruce

This book was a pleasant surprise. I love history. I love true-crime. I love a good conspiracy (not theory). This book had all of that and more.

While this appears to be a family story for the author, it certainly outpaces my expectations. I have done enough genealogy work to know that there are always great stories but they are not always easy to write about. In addition, there is often a needed context to the events. This book manages to provide historical facts as well as the color commentary that is necessary to bring the facts to life. And when one of the key organizations involved is "The Society of the Banana" you have to wonder why this story has not become a movie at this point. After all the code of conduct pivots on this:

"Art. 3. The member who tries to do harm to another branch of the society, or to the family of other companions, if this harm shall have been grave, will be undressed and marked on his body with the mark of infamy and called with word of contempt, “Swindler,” and if the offense is more grave, he will be stabbed;"

The author also takes a moment to step back and provide context to the family behind this book. Particularly poignant is this passage:

"What I found was that there was no detailed history of Frank Oldfield in the U.S. Post Office archives, save for a personnel document detailing his many infractions. Purposely or not, the U.S. Post Office Department took a giant eraser to Frank Oldfield’s life and his merits. Then the Hocking River did its best to wash away the remaining evidence. My family’s code of silence finished the job. As I paged through each document in the collection, I felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility. It was my duty to make sure that Frank’s story did not die with me."

Anyone who has taken the time to look into their family history has probably found a story or two that creates the desire to save and share the story.

If you like history of mafia or the creation of various law enforcement agencies, this is definitely a recommended read.… (meer)

This book is an account of the November 1985 Nevado Del Ruiz eruption that killed more than 23,000 people and destroyed the city of Armero, as well as an account of the January 1993 Galeras eruption that killed six scientists and three tourists.

While the accounts were interesting (and horrifying), this was initially looking like a 3-star read for me due to what I saw as organizational issues and a lack of focus. Yes, the eruptions both took place in Colombia, and some of the same people, such as Colombian geologist Marta Calvache, came up in conjunction with both of them, but I had trouble keeping track of why they were related enough to base a book on both of them. The Nevado Del Ruiz eruption was horrific and resulted in an enormous loss of life. The eruption in Galeras was much smaller and only killed people because they happened to be in the crater (and, for the most part, not wearing proper safety equipment). I should add that I don't read a lot of nonfiction and tend to have attention span issues with it, so that could definitely have been a factor in my overall feelings.

The last couple chapters in particular were a light bulb moment for me - either Bruce didn't lay things out that clearly earlier on in the book (quite possible, in order to let readers judge for themselves), or I didn't pay enough attention and missed it. This book was an account of the two tragedies and what was learned from them, true, but it was also a carefully constructed case against Stanley Williams and his version of the Galeras eruption. This might have been more obvious to those with a better background in geology and volcanology, but I came into this knowing nothing.

Stanley Williams was one of the scientists who survived the Galeras eruption. When he had recovered enough to speak to the media, he either presented himself as the only survivor of the eruption or chose not to correct the media's misrepresentation of him as the only survivor. Considering how severely injured he'd been, I was initially somewhat inclined to think that he'd gotten things confused due to brain damage, but as Bruce described the degree to which Williams used the Galeras eruption to build up his career and reputation, I began to feel much less charitable.

This was an excellent account of two tragic disasters, the events that led up to them, and some of the things learned from them. Bruce also did a great job of getting me emotionally invested in a controversy I hadn't previously known about.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (meer)

Setting the record straight

This book provides a behind-the-scenes account of two Columbian volcanic eruptions. It is a stark reminder about the dangers in complacency. Unfortunately, much of the information communicated in the US news media about Galeras was based on one person's slanted perspective. The author has done a service in setting the record straight. The author manages the scientific material well, portraying it in easy-to-understand language. I learned a lot about the science of predicting eruptions. I recommend this book to anyone interested in volcanoes or natural disasters.… (meer)

Bruce recounts the history, both geologic and historic, of the active volcanic range in Colombia. It's quite a story.

The Nevado del Ruiz eruption, when it came was horrifying. It wasn't one of those blow-the-tops off like Mt. St. Helens, rather an insidious flow of lava that melted several glaciers which then overran rivers and created a mudslide close to one-hundred feet high and traveled at about fifty miles per hour. It literally obliterated the town of Armero and killed more than 23,000 people. Ironically, there was warning. Ham radio operators living high in the mountains who saw what was happening sent warnings, but the local priest had broadcast calm reassurances saying it was just an ash rain so people even refused the frantic warnings of local firemen who had pounded on their doors insisting they evacuate. Only 5% of the icecap had melted. 85% of Armero vanished under the mud.

Following that eruption there was an increased interest in the volcanoes of the Andes and the next on the list was Galeras. Bruce does a great job of illuminating the social and political pressures on the scientists who by now had become quite interested in those wisps of steam coming from the top of the mountain. Everyone wanted accurate predictions of when the volcano would pop off and what form it would take.

(By the way, here is a nasty description of the dangers of pyroclastic flows: "an absolute death sentence that kills not from the heat but from inhalation of scalding hot ash. On the first breath, a person’s lungs react with instant pneumonia and fill with fluid. With the second breath, the fluid and ash mix and create wet cement. By the time the person takes a third breath, thick, hot cement fills the lungs and windpipe, causing the victim to suffocate. There were autopsy pictures of a surgeon opening a victim’s trachea with a chisel.")

As it turns out, a scientist by the name of Chouet had studied the seismic waves before eruptions of numerous volcanoes and he noticed some screw-like motions. "Chouet believed he knew what the signals were saying. Inside the volcano, in fractures in the rocks, boiling water turned to steam. And the steam, under great pressure and unable to escape, resonated brutally in the fractures, creating a high- frequency song like a boiling teakettle whistling an imperceptible pitch." Turns out he was prescient and accurate. Those little squiggles were predictive of explosive events.

On the fateful day, the scientists hiked up to the top and then roped down into the caldera to take measurements. The dome of lava, ever expanding, concerned several of them, but contrary to the pattern and habit of the U.S. Geological Survey scientists, hard hats and safety equipment was not present. No one was positioned on the top to relay radio signals nor did they have emergency medical supplies. Even some untrained journalists were invited to go along into the active volcano.

Nine people (five scientists) died when the volcano popped. Afterwards, one of the gas scientists claimed to have been the only survivor, an untruth, but then he had sustained severe brain injury and needed brain surgery so I suppose a little mendacity could be excused. Not so forgiveable was the appropriation by one of his students of the work of Chouet nor his insistence there was no warning. There was.

Riveting.… (meer)