Vesuvius A D 79

This fascinating account of the destruction of Pompeii & Herculaneum begins with details of the preceding seismic activity & includes the eyewitness account of Pliny the Younger, whose eminent uncle died while helping victims escape the destruction.

One peaceful August day in A.D. 79, the people of Pompeii were going about their business—baking bread, eating lunch, lounging in the afternoon heat. Suddenly there was a great explosion, and tons of rock, ash, and gas were spewed into the air. Mount Vesuvius was erupting! In just 19 hours, most of the inhabitants were dead, and a layer of ash had buried the city. This is the story of what happened to the advanced city of Pompeii on that fateful day—and how we’ve learned about its people and culture thousands of years later by digging through the deadly ash.

The beast beneath the mountain is restless... No one in the bustling city of Pompeii worries when the ground trembles beneath their feet. The beast under the mountain Vesuvius, high above the city, wakes up angry sometimes -- and always goes back to sleep.But Marcus is afraid. He knows something is terribly wrong -- and his father, who trusts science more than mythical beasts, agrees. When Vesuvius explodes into a cloud of fiery ash and rocks fall from the sky like rain, will they have time to escape -- and survive the epic destruction of Pompeii?

Describes the events that occurred on the day Mt. Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the city of Pompeii in 79 A.D.

Barry Moser's extraordinarily detailed and evocative relief engravings decorate this translation of Pliny the Younger's two famous letters to Tacitus about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 and the death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder. Printed in black and white, the engravings are works of art that illustrate various descriptions in the letters. The text includes a brief description of the eruption of the volcano, concise biographies of Tacitus and of both Plinys, and a summary of how the texts of the two letters have survived until today.

The 'When Disaster Struck' series looks at some of the worst disasters in history. This book explores the history of the Roman town of Pompei, which was destroyed in A.D. 79 when Mount Vesuvius erupted.

Describes the destruction of Pompeii by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79 and what its rediscovery and excavation has revealed about daily life in the Roman Empire. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.