World Disasters

A century of the industrial age saw unprecedented leaps in technology and engineering, from the first flight of an airplane to the first flight of humans to the moon. But alongside these awe-inspiring achievements were horrible disasters caused by faulty engineering or careless judgement. Catastrophes and Heroes explores eight such disasters and recognizes the unheralded heroes who stepped up to save others in times of great danger.

An Unstoppable Force Meets an Unyielding Will In a world teetering on the edge of chaos, where technology and ambition collide with deadly consequences, a new threat emerges from the shadows. A ruthless warlord has discovered a way to automate the production of a potent drug, setting the stage for a monopoly that could upend the global pharmaceutical industry. His plan could lead to mass murder on an unprecedented scale, and the clock is ticking. Enter Natalie, a determined CIA agent with a haunted past and a desperate need to salvage her career. Driven by revenge, she sets her sights on ...

Introducing Catastrophe Politics: The Ultimate Guide to Disaster Management! Are you worried about the world's increasing frequency of disasters? Do you want to learn how to manage unprecedented emergencies and their impact on geopolitics and international relations? Look no further than Catastrophe Politics! This comprehensive e-book is an essential guide to understanding and managing disasters of all kinds. With 19 chapters of expert advice and practical techniques, this book covers everything from disaster types and causes to disaster risk reduction strategies. You'll learn about the ...

To Chinese American teenager Chuntao, New Lake is a beautiful haven where she can hunt for treasures once swallowed up by a big flood. But when she’s caught scavenging by her biology teacher, a woman whose own past has been swept away, Chuntao is faced with an imponderable question: Which world was better - the ideal one she never knew or the destroyed one that now belongs to her?

In 'Domes of Destiny,' Dr. Victor Thorne's visionary quest to shield humanity from a cataclysmic event, unfolds against a backdrop of personal strife and global turmoil. As he wrestles with his obsession to construct protective force field domes, his marriage crumbles and society teeters on the brink of chaos. Despite ridicule and setbacks, Thorne's unwavering determination leads to the creation of sanctuaries amid impending doom. However, when unforeseen challenges jeopardize their safety, Thorne and his allies must confront not only the physical threats but also the fractures in human ...

When the dead come to life, it’s up to an admiral’s daughter and a former war hero turned town crazy to save a small town. Being the daughter of an admiral, helicopter pilot Jetta Cross is anything but an ordinary young woman. She’s placed in charge of her father’s former Navy Seal comrade, John Hunter; a fallen war hero with a tendency to relive his past and forgo reality. When a government-generated superbug hits the island, the locals become infected and a zombie outbreak plagues their quiet town. Hunter is left alone and to his own devices at their beach house. Often believing ...

Dr. Andrew Furey, an orthopedic surgeon, was sitting by the fireplace at his home in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, watching TV after work, when dreadful images of the aftermath of an earthquake in Haiti burst in on the cosy domestic scene. Human suffering on an epic scale was being documented in real time. Dr. Furey spent a sleepless night, and woke knowing he had to help in some way. In what has been a theme throughout Newfoundland and Labrador's history, he found himself answering the call.

SYNOPSIS: In 2046, a quarter billion people disappear from Earth within 48 hours. Some call it ‘mass abduction,’ others call it the ‘Rapture,’ though Christian theologians disagree whether to call it Biblical or ufological. One college student claims to know the truth, yet would anyone listen to his testimony? (Standalone version.) Available also in print, as part of the STARCALL Anthology, Vol.4, illustrated by the author. The eBook is not illustrated to save on file size (1 mb vs. 300 mb).

Life has hardened Stanley Wagner, and he has spent the past decade preparing himself against the uncertainties of life. After an EMP destroys the nation's power grid, every ounce of that strength will be tested.

In May 2016, Fort McMurray, Alberta, the hub of Canada's oil industry, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster turned entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and drove 90,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the story of this apocalyptic conflagration, John Vaillant explores the past and the future of our ever-hotter, more flammable world.

Camila is haunted by the death of her sister, Marisol, who was caught by a mudslide during the huracán. Unable to part with Marisol, Camila carries her through town, past the churchyard, and, eventually, to the supposed utopia of Memoria. Urayoán, the idealistic, yet troubled cult leader of Memoria, has a vision for this new society, one that in his eyes is peaceful and democratic. The paradise he preaches lures in the young, including Bayfish, a boy on the cusp of manhood, and Morivivi, a woman whose outward toughness belies an inner tenderness for her friends.

The development of nuclear weapons by humans with 'Trinity' and their gradual evolution within a decade into megaton-class thermonuclear weapons; capable of decimating entire cities in a matter of minutes with a single explosion; has almost taken mankind onto the verge of a potential nuclear apocalypse & doomsday on multiple occasions so far over the course of the Atomic Age, especially through the bone chilling Cold War years. However, almost all global nuclear powers consistently maintain and still swear by the extremely dangerous & absurd doctrines of ‘nuclear deterrence’, ‘mutual-...

Genevieve, a single mother, flies from New York to Port-au-Prince with her teenage son, Miles. The trip is meant to be an education for fifteen-year-old Miles—a chance to learn about his family’s roots while coming to terms with his father’s departure—but it’s also an excuse for Genevieve to escape the city, where her life is dominated by her failed marriage and the daily pressures of raising Black children in America.

At the end of a long, sweltering day, as markets and businesses begin to close for the evening, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster.

Can we human beings agree on a set of values which will allow us to confront the numerous threats that we and our planet face? Or will we continue our disagreements, rivalries, and antipathies, even as we collectively approach what, in the not impossible extreme, might be extinction? To answer these questions, A. C. Grayling considers the three most pressing challenges facing the world: climate change, technology, and justice.

In 1353, Giovanni ​Boccaccio wrote The Decameron: one hundred nested tales told by a group of young men and women passing the time at a villa outside Florence while waiting out the gruesome Black Death, a plague that killed more than 25 million people. Some of the stories are silly, some are bawdy, some are like fables. In March 2020, the editors of The New York Times Magazine worked to create a collection of stories written just as the pandemic first swept the globe.

Alex was in bad shape. Just this side of dead, lying in a dumpster, but he couldn’t give up. Crawling out of the garbage, the first thing he noticed, beyond the pain, was that Vee was gone. He had only one option - to keep going. Out to the street he walked. All around there was only the otherworldly destruction of burned-out cars, broken windows, and empty streets. Houston had fallen further into chaos, brimming with violence and a population at each other’s throats.

With 2018 marking the 100th anniversary of the worst disease outbreak in modern history, the story of the Spanish flu is more relevant today than ever. This dramatic narrative, told through the stories and voices of the people caught in the deadly maelstrom, explores how this vast, global epidemic was intertwined with the horrors of World War I - and how it could happen again. Complete with modern research and firsthand reports by medical professionals and survivors, this audiobook provides captivating insight into a catastrophe that transformed America in the early 20th century.

Liverpool 1940. Alice King stands on the deck of SS Carlisle, waiting to escort a group of children to Canada as overseas evacuees. She is finally doing her bit for the war. In London, as the Blitz bombs rain down and the threat of German invasion looms, Lily Nicholls anxiously counts the days for news of her son and daughter’s safe arrival.

On June 23, 2000, the iron-ore carrier MV Treasure, en route from Brazil to China, foundered off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, spilling 1,300 tons of oil into the ocean and contaminating the habitat of 75,000 penguins. Realizing that 41 percent of the world's population of African penguins could perish, local conservation officials immediately launched a massive rescue operation.