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A riveting history of how the cataclysmic Lisbon earthquake shook the religious and intellectual foundations of Enlightenment Europe. Along with the volcanic destruction of Pompeii and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Lisbon quake of 1755 is one of the most destructive natural disasters ever recorded. After being jolted by a massive quake, Lisbon was then pounded by a succession of tidal waves and finally reduced to ash by a fire that raged for five straight days. In The Last Day, Nicholas Shrady provides not only a vivid account of this horrific disaster but also a stimulating survey of the many shock waves it sent throughout Western civilization. When news of the quake spread, it inspired both a lurid fascination in the popular imagination of Europe and an intellectual debate about the natural world and God's place in human affairs. Voltaire, Alexander Pope, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, among other eminent figures, took up the disaster as a sort of cause célèbre and a vehicle to express Enlightenment ideas. More practically, the Lisbon quake led to the first concerted effort at disaster control, modern urban planning, and the birth of seismology. The Last Day is popular history writing at its best and will appeal to readers of Simon Winchester's Krakatoa and A Crack in the Edge of the World.… (meer)
It's early morning, and you are heading to church. Once there, a massive earthquake strikes. You rush outside to see buildings start to collapse due to a second tremor just minutes later. Within an hour, parts of the city are ablaze, which does nothing to quell the panic. You rush to the river, hoping to flee the city in a boat. But several huge waves come rushing down the riverbed. It sounds like a plot for a summer blockbuster, but this "perfect storm" really did strike Lisbon in 1755. Two recent books cover the history of the event: Wrath of God by Edward Paice, and The Last Day, by Nicholas Shrady.
The Last Day starts out in media res, putting the reader in the churches of the somewhat devout Portuguese city minutes before the earthquake. Shrady then gives some of the history of Portugal, especially concentrating on the Catholic influence and the Brazilian importation of gold and slaves. The book bounces back and forth through history as Shrady takes a topic and gives its history, which made it feel like some parts were repetitive. Shrady's main focus through the last half of the book is the Marques de Pombal (Sebastiao Jose de Carvalho e Melo), a man who positioned himself well in the rebuilding of Lisbon (and, in essence, the entire country).
Wrath of God follows a more chronological structure, giving the history of Lisbon for the first seventy pages (one irritating point: the author uses many Portuguese words without always giving definitions). When the earthquake finally happens, Paice has established a number of characters which he follows throughout the middle third of the book. While this sometimes seems to jumble their stories, it really shows the confusion and terror that must have occurred during this disaster. The end of the book does discuss the rebuilding process, plus it gives a longer philosophical discussion starring Voltaire, who wrote two commentaries on the earthquake.
With his important part in the rebuilding of Lisbon, the Marques de Pombal plays a large role in both books. He's generally portrayed with all his faults: he's certainly a man of action who seems to have wanted to revitalize his country, but he's not above petty politics, likely fabricating plots to have his detractors exiled or killed. The Last Day offered a slightly more positive story, noting other areas of Pombal's interest (his ideas for educational reform, for example).
Because both books work from the same primary sources, there's a lot of repetition between the books. Even so, they both tell slightly different stories. The Last Day was a quicker read, which told the story of the disaster and its aftermath. Wrath of God was a bit more academic, noting the struggle of the Church and philosophers to explain why such a religious country would be punished by God in this way. While both titles offer extensive footnotes and bibliographies, I'd recommend The Last Day if you're just interested in the history of the great earthquake, but read Wrath of God if you're doing research in history or earth science. ( )
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Earth shivered and shook, the very foundations of the hills quailed and quaked before his anger; smoke went up before his indignant presence, and a consuming fire; burning coals were kindled as he went. -- 2 Kings 22:8-9
I was washing the tea things when the Dreadful affair hapned. itt began like the rattleing of Coaches, and the things befor me danst up and downe upon the table, I look about me and see the Walls a shakeing and a falling down then I up and took to my heells, with Jesus in my mouth. - The nun Kitty Witham in a letter to her mother in England
Opdracht
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
For Eva
Eerste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Later, when the earth had ceased to tremble and a fine dust of ages had settled over Lisbon like a shroud, when the sea had spilled back into the placid expanse of the Tagus estuary and the last embers of an all-consuming fire had been extinguished, only then would the survivors come to dwell on the prophecies.
Citaten
Laatste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
If Lisbon does indeed provide a lesson for the disasters that face us today, it is that man is at the center of our response to natural disaster, and not providence, metaphysics, or the ire of a living God.
A riveting history of how the cataclysmic Lisbon earthquake shook the religious and intellectual foundations of Enlightenment Europe. Along with the volcanic destruction of Pompeii and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Lisbon quake of 1755 is one of the most destructive natural disasters ever recorded. After being jolted by a massive quake, Lisbon was then pounded by a succession of tidal waves and finally reduced to ash by a fire that raged for five straight days. In The Last Day, Nicholas Shrady provides not only a vivid account of this horrific disaster but also a stimulating survey of the many shock waves it sent throughout Western civilization. When news of the quake spread, it inspired both a lurid fascination in the popular imagination of Europe and an intellectual debate about the natural world and God's place in human affairs. Voltaire, Alexander Pope, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, among other eminent figures, took up the disaster as a sort of cause célèbre and a vehicle to express Enlightenment ideas. More practically, the Lisbon quake led to the first concerted effort at disaster control, modern urban planning, and the birth of seismology. The Last Day is popular history writing at its best and will appeal to readers of Simon Winchester's Krakatoa and A Crack in the Edge of the World.
Google Books — Bezig met laden...
(3.43)
1
The Last Day starts out in media res, putting the reader in the churches of the somewhat devout Portuguese city minutes before the earthquake. Shrady then gives some of the history of Portugal, especially concentrating on the Catholic influence and the Brazilian importation of gold and slaves. The book bounces back and forth through history as Shrady takes a topic and gives its history, which made it feel like some parts were repetitive. Shrady's main focus through the last half of the book is the Marques de Pombal (Sebastiao Jose de Carvalho e Melo), a man who positioned himself well in the rebuilding of Lisbon (and, in essence, the entire country).
Wrath of God follows a more chronological structure, giving the history of Lisbon for the first seventy pages (one irritating point: the author uses many Portuguese words without always giving definitions). When the earthquake finally happens, Paice has established a number of characters which he follows throughout the middle third of the book. While this sometimes seems to jumble their stories, it really shows the confusion and terror that must have occurred during this disaster. The end of the book does discuss the rebuilding process, plus it gives a longer philosophical discussion starring Voltaire, who wrote two commentaries on the earthquake.
With his important part in the rebuilding of Lisbon, the Marques de Pombal plays a large role in both books. He's generally portrayed with all his faults: he's certainly a man of action who seems to have wanted to revitalize his country, but he's not above petty politics, likely fabricating plots to have his detractors exiled or killed. The Last Day offered a slightly more positive story, noting other areas of Pombal's interest (his ideas for educational reform, for example).
Because both books work from the same primary sources, there's a lot of repetition between the books. Even so, they both tell slightly different stories. The Last Day was a quicker read, which told the story of the disaster and its aftermath. Wrath of God was a bit more academic, noting the struggle of the Church and philosophers to explain why such a religious country would be punished by God in this way. While both titles offer extensive footnotes and bibliographies, I'd recommend The Last Day if you're just interested in the history of the great earthquake, but read Wrath of God if you're doing research in history or earth science. (