In this oversized volume, award-winning photographer Philippe Bourseiller documents the awesome power and devastating aftermath of volcanoes. More than 170 full-color double spreads depict the volatile outbursts of active volcanoes with photos of red-hot oceans and rivers of fire, massive craters and islands formed from molten rock, and silt-coated towns. The book begins with a discussion of how volcanoes have been alternately worshiped and feared by different cultures throughout history and ends with a chapter on what is currently known by science about the natural phenomena behind volcanic eruptions.