This book about March 27, 1964, 9.2 earthquakes and the destruction that followed. Is a fascinating read. The author takes you to the village in Alaska where a tsunami struck later after the quake and killed 130 people. He then goes on and discusses his theory about plate tectonics, which was controversial at that time. It is now accepted and taught. The author is able to weave science and the description from personal accounts to make this story more interesting and less scientific. The tragedy that the people went through and villages wiped out you can get a sense of loss still after all of these years. I thought it interesting that Valdez was once a village before the quake and after later became a port for the pipeline. A very good book and a lot of information that I did not know about.

I have always enjoyed non fiction books about earthquakes, volcanoes, and other various types of natural disasters.
I remember reading about the Alaska earthquake but this book gives more detailed insight into effects on people, science and the earthquake itself. It is well written but not too technical. I really highly recommend this one.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley for free in exchange for my honest review.

A fascinating examination into earthquakes, Alaska, history, and geology. Fantastic read!

When I was eleven years old, the big Sumatra earthquake and following tsunami on Boxing day shook the world with its devastating power. However, it also shook my interest into geology and tectonics. So when I came across The Great Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet I was immediately curious.

I have to admit that I was completely unaware of this earthquake, although its significance became clear very quickly, with the new techniques that had been developed recently even if the human and material loss was relatively low due to it happening in a scarcely populated area.

Henry Fountain gives a rather complete overview of the different aspects surrounding the 'great quake', looking at it from many different points of view. However, I thought rather a lot of the book was filled with human interest stories which somehow made it feel a little overdramatic. It also took a long time to get to the actual quake and its aftermath. However, I thought it was an interesting book and I would definitely recommend it to those interested in earth quakes and geology.

Thanks to Blogging for Books for providing me with a free book in exchange for an honest review!

First line:Riding shotgun beneath the clouds in a rattling De Havilland Otter, George Plafker gazed down upon an Alaska he’d never seen before.

Highlights: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The science facts were completely understandable and would be familiar to the majority of people. The book actually told a brief history of Alaska and gave a quick tutorial about the past theories of the earth’s land and sea movements. The author didn’t just spout off facts about the Alaska earthquake. He interviewed the survivors and we found out about life before March 27, 1964. How he described the devastation from the earthquake was jaw dropping. I had to keep reminding myself this was a non-fiction book and all the events and destruction truly happened.

Lowlights (or what could have been better): The author did jump back and forth between the science aspects and the events leading up to the earthquake, but I did get used to the format.

The Great Quake is a detailed account of the devastating effects Mother Nature can have.

I like both the scientific and historic nature of the book and it is great for anybody who is looking to learn more in the subject. I will admit that this was my first real read into the subject of earthquakes and their affect on land - living in an area that *touch wood* isn't on the boundary of a tectonic plate, it isn't a concern I have ever had.

To therefore be transported into chaotic world of trying to rebuild after such devastation was an eye opener to me. It is almost easy to see such things happen on television and not pay it much of a second thought. Through the narration you are brought into the forefront of the disaster... and it does change your perspective.

I cannot believe that something so devastating occurred and we were never taught about this during our formal education. Given that this particular earthquake was the second largest in the world and went a long way towards the discovery of tectonic plates and how earthquakes occur, I now feel my education in the subject to be very lacking. Every day really is a school day!

This is an informative and interesting read from Henry Fountain. Whether you are new to the subject or already take a keen interest, I think this is a narrative that can be enjoyed by everybody.

Masterful, from both a scientific and storytelling point of view. The great quake of 1964 doesn't get lost in the science here but is told via personal stories from small hamlets and towns like Chenega. Yes the first 1/3 can be daunting if you are not science leaning but after that the event itself and the aftermath details keep you hooked.

Growing up in California, I had spent a few times huddled under tables or school desks waiting for the shaking to stop. It was normal. Only much later, when studying natural disasters, did I realize that not everyone had to endure the tremors. The span of earthquake zones is amazing and it is from the work of the brilliant geologist, George Plafker and other scientists, whose time in the danger zone helped take away the mystery behind the shake. Thank you. Full Disclosure: I was allowed to read a copy of this book for free as a member of NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and I was not influenced to give a positive review.

Title: The Great Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet
Author: Henry Fountain
Source: NetGalley
Links: Indiebound |Goodreads
Rating: four-stars
Summary: Lots of story threads were sometimes hard to follow, but once things came together, this was a run, fascinating read.

“On March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m., the biggest earthquake ever recorded in North America–and the second biggest ever in the world, measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale–struck Alaska, devastating coastal towns and villages and killing more than 130 people in what was then a relatively sparsely populated region.” (source) In addition to wreaking havoc in the lives of inhabitants, this enormous earthquake provided geologists with a novel research opportunity. If they could figure out why it occurred, they could learn more about the way the earth moves and potentially predict future quakes.

Between the science and the many different people in several different communities, there were a lot of threads to this story. At times, I wasn’t sure how they were going to connect, had trouble keeping track of all the characters, or just felt a little lost. After we got to the earthquake, that got better. Since the author was clearly trying to give an overview of the quake, I didn’t feel like I had to keep track of individuals as much. I was also incredibly impressed by the level of detail the author was able to provide about the experiences of individual people during the earthquake. It made for some fun, immersive reading.

The science was generally explained well. I didn’t know much about the science before, but was able to follow along pretty easily. In a few cases, I think a figure would have helped a lot though! I also thought the author did a good job of sharing some of the history of the indigenous peoples in the area. There were a lot of fascinating parts to this story. Although they didn’t always feel cohesive, they still made for an enjoyable and interesting read.

I was on the fence about how many stars to award. I could see the criticisms about the book not being 'enough about the actual quake' but was ambivalent over the inclusion of the background material. There WAS a lot of it. Ch. 1 started with the aftermath of the quake, then it went through SEVEN chapters of background, then Ch. 9/10 returned to the quake. Ch. 11 was filler about geology. A couple of chapters following focused on rebuilding.

I admit, as an Alaskan, I was slightly disappointed. The 'meat' of the story wasn't really there, if you know what I mean.

Probably of interest to: Earthquake buffs, geology hobbyists

*ARC via netgalley.com*

The Great Quake by Henry Fountain is a highly recommended account of the Alaskan earthquake of 1964, especially for those who enjoy historical background and personal information about those affected by the quake and tsunamis.

"At 5:36 p.m. on March 27, 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake - the second most powerful in world history - struck the young state of Alaska. The violent shaking, followed by massive tsunamis, devastated the southern half of the state and killed more than 130 people. A day later, George Plafker, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, arrived to investigate. His fascinating scientific detective work in the months that followed helped confirm the then-controversial theory of plate tectonics."

Fountain approaches the story of the Alaskan earthquake from a human-interest angle, discussing the people, their way of life, and the history of Alaska more than the actual quake itself and the exciting scientific enlightenment that resulted from studying the quake. He offers details about some of the citizens of the small village of Chenega and the little town of Valdez, both of which were devastated, changed, and altered by the quake and resulting tsunamis. While there is scientific information about the quake and tsunamis, Plafker observations that resulted in changing the way we look at geology and the theory of plate tectonics is condensed into just a couple chapters. Those who appreciate the science might desire more, but most readers will concede that Fountain chose an interesting and basically successful way to approach the topic,

It is a well written account of a historic natural disaster that is both factual and accessible. Fountain succeeds in showing what happened, who it happened to, why we should care about what happened, and the results of the scientific fieldwork and analysis. The book opens with a map of the area and the final version will have notes and suggestions for further reading, additional sources, and an index. (I would hope that the final version includes photos, but I have no information about this. There are photos available online that are worth looking up after you have read this book.)

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/08/the-great-quake.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2084647190

The Great Quake by Henry Fountain is compelling reading. Fountain recreates the towns in Alaska and offers a glimpse into individual lives which become destroyed in the largest earthquake in North America in 1964.

Two towns are simply wiped off the map. Valdez, the largest area struck, was decimated and the village Chenega, on an island is swept away.

Fountain is a geologist and he is the one who pushed forward the theory of teutonic plates shifting, thus explaining why earthquakes occur.

This book pulled me right in and I read it fast. Fountain brought this event to life and shared the way he came to his correct theory. History and a compelling one at that.

I recommend this book.

This book is about possibly the largest earthquake ever to hit Alaska in 1964. It is about the earthquake itself, the damage, and the recovery from the storm. But it is more than just the earthquake, it is about how that particular earthquake confirmed the plate-tectonics theory. It centers around one geologist George Plafker and his commitment to finding out how this earthquake happened. In doing this he was able to confirm the plate-tectonics theory of earthquakes.
Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This book was well written and well researched. It was interesting and very detailed though it did drag on a little bit at some points in the book. But overall it kept my interest and focus. It was well organized and well thought out. I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Henry Fountain, and Crown Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free Kindle copy of The Great Quake by Henry Fountain courtesy of Net Galley and Crown Publishing, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review to Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my history book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as I am have an avid interest in earth science and plate tectonics. This is the first book about the Alaskan Earthquake of 1964 that I have read. It is the first book by Henry Fountain that I have read.

I found this to be a very interesting book. It is well researched and well written. The first half of the book lays the groundwork for the earthquake with a discussion of the history of continental drift and plate tectonics and the small villages along the coast of Alaska that were severely damaged or in some cases wiped out by the tsunami that followed.

The second half of the book deals with the events that took place and the aftermath. The focus is on a few villages and individuals. The author does a very good job of bringing the human tragedy into the events that took place. Families and whole villages uprooted, decimated by loss and then eventually recovering.

I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in plate tectonics, earthquakes and Alaska.

A fine book, well-written, with interesting characters and human drama. This might be a good present for teenaged aspiring scientists, but only if the scientist's parents don't mind you putting ideas into their heads about heading out to remote areas of the world which, even today, may not have a cell phone signal but may have terrifying earthquakes at any moment. And bears.

But I also felt that the book was a bit of a tease, promising a conflict that it didn't deliver. Specifically, I felt led to believe that the author would tell us the real-life story of a plucky scientific outsider (George Plafker) who took on a hide-bound establishment to champion a theory (continental drift) which is accepted as truth today but was previously viewed as incorrect, perhaps even ludicrously silly. That's not what happens. By the time Plafker comes along, he's pushing on an open door. Although there were still “stabilists” in the irony towers of science prior to the Alaska earthquake, Plafker's work of a lifetime (which seems considerable and impressive) did not spark a revolutionary change of scientific framework as much as drive the long-awaited final coffin nails into the stabilist theory.

I have a lot of respect for non-fiction writers who write of events, like this one, that happen 50-60 years previously. At that particular distance in time, it is likely the last time that some witnesses will be around to be recorded and described, and to return to the place where the most dramatic events of their lives took place. Writers like this are preserving something genuinely precious about our experience. I hope that whatever notes and recordings were made for this book find their way into the corner of some university library.

I received uncorrected electronic galley copy of this book free of charge for review. Thanks to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the free stuff.

Very interesting book on one of the worst disasters ever to hit the United States.. It is hard to remember in this day and age of interconnectedness how isolated people could truly be in a disaster. The earthquake and ensuing tidal wave caused great property destruction and death and the author clearly did a great deal of primary research.. The chapters are very detailed yet an easy read for the layman. The scientific side of the book is again written very clearly and presented well. The US. Geology Dept. comes out very well in this book. I hope the current personnel would do just as well in a disaster of this size today.

The Great Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet by Henry Fountain is a wonderful history and science book that I enjoyed thoroughly. Two subjects I love and earthquakes are exciting and scary at the same time. It was interesting to find out about what life was like in Alaska before the quakes and after the big quake. Individual stories and an overall view of society prior, during, and after. A lot of wonderful information in a way that did not focus on a political point but on a personal view, even from the history of it. Very interesting.

The Great Quake by Henry Fountain was received direct from the publisher. Alaska, a land many hope to visit and those who have visited will never forget it. I lived there for 10 years and wish I was still there. If you want to learn about Alaska from discovery by European era man, the Natives who still live there, Russian occupation to the Americans buying it and sparsely settling it, this is a book you want to read. You will learn more about geology and more about what we know about earthquakes than you could have imagined or cared to learn.

5 stars

This is an excellent history of one of the most catastrophic earthquakes in US history. Even for those who believed they knew the risks of where they lived, the magnitude of this quake quite literally shook everyone to their core.

Coming at at critical time in the research about how the crust of the earth behaved, or maybe accelerated it, the range and unexpected damage, the 1964 quake helped to clarify the dynamics of plate tectonics. The areas of uplift and subduction were so vast and high/low previous theories simply didn't explain them any other way.

The author begins with a history of the region and the development of the settlements and towns. The different character of each village and its people as they go about their daily lives colors the region and its day to day activities. The devastation of the quake and how much was required to begin to rebuild was impossible to measure. But they had no choice and turned their efforts towards restoring what they could.

This is a great read, absorbing and interesting. The narrative flows easily as the author paints a detailed and compassionate picture of before, during and after this massive event.