Describes various disasters, natural and man-made, from Chernobyl to locust plagues. 8 yrs+

Here, children can encounter the power of natural forces, from volcanoes to outbreaks of plague and flu; read about man-made disasters, environmental catastrophes and threats of the future; and discover how people have lived through these events and what they have learnt from them.

More than half of the disasters chronicled are natural. These floods, storms, droughts, blizzards, famines and epidemics are fierce reminders that humankind is no match for the devastating force and fury of nature. From the Great Influenza Epidemic of WWI that took nearly 40 million lives to the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, there are numerous accounts of catastrophes that could not be averted, and whose destructive power was beyond imagining.