A vibrant portrait of love and politics in the tropics from the National Book Award–winning author: “the finest first novel I have read in many years” (William O’Rourke, Chicago Tribune). Winner of the National Book Award for First Fiction for Easy in the Islands, Bob Shacochis returns to the islands with Swimming in the Volcano, a “splendid first novel” that illuminates the beauty and life of the Caribbean (Library Journal). On the fictional island of St. Catherine, an American expatriate becomes unwittingly embroiled in an internecine war between rival factions of the government. Into this potentially explosive scene enters a woman he once loved and lost, but who remains a powerful temptation—one that proves impossible to resist. Both an enchanting love story and a sophisticated political novel about the fruits of imperialism in the twentieth century, Swimming in the Volcano is as brutal and seductive a novel as the world it evokes. “Scores of island people, from conspiring politicians to barbers on the beach, sprawl across the pages like oleander and hibiscus . . . each of [the book’s] scenes is expertly wrought.” —The New York Times Book Review

Geoffrey Firmin, a former British consul, has come to Quauhnahuac, Mexico. His debilitating malaise is drinking, an activity that has overshadowed his life. On the most fateful day of the consul's life--the Day of the Dead, 1938--his wife, Yvonne, arrives in Quauhnahuac, inspired by a vision of life together away from Mexico and the circumstances that have driven their relationship to the brink of collapse. She is determined to rescue Firmin and their failing marriage, but her mission is further complicated by the presence of Hugh, the consul's half brother, and Jacques, a childhood friend. The events of this one significant day unfold against an unforgettable backdrop of a Mexico at once magical and diabolical. Under the Volcano remains one of literature's most powerful and lyrical statements on the human condition, and a brilliant portrayal of one man's constant struggle against the elemental forces that threaten to destroy him.

The Volcano Adventure Guide is the first book of its type. It contains vital information for anyone wishing to visit, explore, and photograph active volcanoes safely and enjoyably. Following an introduction that discusses eruption styles of different types of volcanoes, how to prepare for a volcano trip, and how to avoid volcanic dangers, the book presents guides to visiting 42 different volcanoes around the world. This section is packed full of practical information including tour itineraries, maps, transportation details, and warnings of possible non-volcanic dangers. Three appendices at the end of the book direct the reader to a wealth of further volcano resources. Aimed at non-specialist readers who wish to explore volcanoes without being foolhardy, it will fascinate amateur enthusiasts and professional volcanologists alike. The stunning colour photographs throughout the book will delight armchair travellers as well as inspire the adventurous to get out and explore volcanoes for themselves.

Containing several cases of volcanic eruptions, this book describes how and why volcanic eruptions occur and the destruction they inflict on communities and the environment.

A new historical novel from Pamela Schoenewaldt, the USA Today bestselling author of When We Were Strangers. Italy, 1905. Fourteen-year-old Lucia and her young mother, Teresa, are servants in a magnificent villa on the Bay of Naples, where Teresa soothes their unhappy mistress with song. But volatile tempers force them to flee, exchanging their warm, gilded cage for the cold winds off Lake Erie and Cleveland's restless immigrant quarters. With a voice as soaring and varied as her moods, Teresa transforms herself into the Naples Nightingale on the vaudeville circuit. Clever and hardworking, Lucia blossoms in school until her mother's demons return, fracturing Lucia's dreams. Yet Lucia is not alone in her struggle for a better life. All around her, friends and neighbors, new Americans, are demanding decent wages and working conditions. Lucia joins their battle, confronting risks and opportunities that will transform her and her world in ways she never imagined.

New collection of short stories from acclaimed Oxford-based South African author that tracks lives across continents from the perspective of the southern hemisphere – its light, its seas, its sensibilities. These are stories of people caught up in a world that tilts seductively, sometimes dangerously, between south and north, between ambition and tradition, between light and dark. Her characters are poised to leave or on the point of return; often caught in limbo, haunted by their histories and veering between possibilities. An African student in England longs for her desert home; a shy Argentinian travel agent agonizes about joining her boyfriend in New York; a soldier is pursued by his past; a writer's widow fends off the attentions of his predatory biographer. From story to story we walk through radically different worlds and journeys packed with hopes and ideals. Sharp, tender, and always arresting, these exquisitely written pieces crackle with luminous insights as characters struggle to find contentment – with their pasts, with one another, and with themselves.