World Disasters

Churchill's history of the Second World War is, and will remain, the definitive work. Lucid, dramatic, remarkable for its breadth and sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, it is universally acknowledged as a magnificent reconstruction.

The Breakfast Club meets Guardians of the Galaxy in this YA sci-fi adventure by debut author M. K. England. Hotshot pilot Nax Hall has a history of making poor life choices. So it’s not exactly a surprise when he’s kicked out of the elite Ellis Station Academy in less than twenty-four hours...

At 01:23:40 on April 26th 1986, Alexander Akimov pressed the emergency shutdown button at Chernobyl's fourth nuclear reactor. It was an act that forced the permanent evacuation of a city, killed thousands, and crippled the Soviet Union. The event spawned decades of conflicting, exaggerated, and inaccurate stories.

Uranium is best known for the destructive power of the atom bombs, which ushered in the nuclear era at the end of World War II, but given the effectiveness of nuclear power, nuclear power plants were constructed around the developed world during the second half of the 20th century. While nuclear power plants were previously not an option and thus opened the door to new, more efficient, and more affordable forms of energy for domestic consumption, the use of nuclear energy understandably unnerved people living during the Cold War and amid ongoing nuclear detonations.

À la fois tissé d’indignation et d’espoir, ce témoignage poignant livré en temps réel est celui d’une communicatrice projetée au cœur de conflits qui s’interroge sur les défis de l’information. L’autrice nous transporte avec elle dans les camps de réfugiés du génocide rwandais, au cœur de Sarajevo en guerre, sur des scènes de dévastations auprès des victimes d’inondations en Chine, en passant par les steppes mongoles, les périls de la Corée du Nord, les ravages du tremblement de terre en Haïti et ailleurs encore, en nous faisant vivre toute une gamme d’émotions.

Bloomsbury presents Disaster Diaries: The Worst Holiday Ever by Joanna Nadin read by Anushka Chakravarti Daffodil Patterson is a small girl with BIG plans - it's really not her fault that they always seem to go wrong! A brilliantly funny series for young readers, from the author of The Worst...

Professor Connel Fullenkamp of Duke University guides listeners through four centuries of economic disasters - from tulip mania in the 1600s to the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Each of his 24 lectures covers a notable incident of financial misfortune or folly that is worthy of a Hollywood thriller.

Global warming...reversed. The energy crisis...over. The greatest problem on Earth...solved. Voltarian Royal Officer of the Fleet Jettero Heller has it all figured out. And he’s devised a daring and ingenious plan to make it all happen...if he lives to see the day. Saving the world is never easy, and for Heller, it turns out to be a tricky - and risky - business.

It was 13 October 1972. Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, carrying a team of young rugby players, their families and friends, took off for the very last time. A deadly miscalculation saw F571 crash directly into the Andean mountains to devastating consequences: the body of the plane broke violently into two, its floor torn to smithereens; seats flew out of the air taking passengers with them. In the weeks that followed, the remaining people who were on board - the society of the snow - emerged to fight a dire, gruelling battle for survival.

Bloomsbury presents Disaster Diaries: The Worst Show Ever by Joanna Nadin read by Anushka Chakravarti Daffodil Patterson is a small girl with BIG plans - it's really not her fault that they always seem to go wrong! A brilliantly funny new series for young readers, from the author and illustrator...

One man’s promise. One girl’s survival. One brutal journey across America. Rex Hays thought he’d left death behind when he tore a grieving teenager from the hands of a brutal cult. Now he’s bound by a promise he can’t break—get her to safety, no matter the cost. For Zoe Mills, survival means facing a shattered America without her mother. The roads are broken. The cities burn. And every stranger could be a killer. With nothing left but fear and guilt, she has no choice but to trust the hardened man who saved her.

On October 30, 1938, rising radio star Orson Welles boondoggles the American public into believing that Martians have attacked Earth. With his clever adaptation of The War of the Worlds, the great showman proves he can get away with anything - maybe even murder. Minutes before the fictitious invasion goes live on the air, a dead body is found in the studio and the polarizing Welles is the obvious suspect.

Bloomsbury presents Final Voyage by Jonathan Eyers, read by Daniel Rebbeck Everyone knows the story of the Titanic, but in terms of loss of life that catastrophe doesn't even figure as one of the 50 worst maritime disasters of the last three hundred years. The twentieth century was the age of...

It had been 12 months since the worst day in Russell’s life. The anniversary of his daughter’s death sent him into the bottle. He loved his wife, but they grieved in different ways. Would the pain ever stop? Sarah missed Russell. She lay in bed unable to sleep. The heartache had nearly broken her, too, but Sarah didn’t want their marriage to end. If she could just get him to stop drinking. Could they learn to live again?

Bloomsbury presents Disaster Diaries: The Worst Birthday Ever by Joanna Nadin, read by Anushka Chakravarti Daffodil Patterson is a small girl with BIG plans - it's really not her fault that they always seem to go wrong … The start of a brilliantly funny new series for young readers, from the...

On January 12, 2010, the deadliest earthquake in the history of the Western Hemisphere struck the nation least prepared to handle one. Jonathan M. Katz, the only full-time American news correspondent in Haiti, was inside his house when it buckled along with hundreds of thousands of others. In this visceral first-hand account, Katz takes readers inside the terror of that day, the devastation visited on ordinary Haitians, and through the monumental--yet misbegotten--rescue effort that followed.

For Hazel Northrup, it’s the day she escapes the only world she’s ever known—a fanatical water-worshipping cult deep in the Oregon wilderness. With her little brother in tow, she flees into a dying world, vowing to keep him safe from both the toxic wasteland and the ruthless men hunting them. Miles away, a remote research team discovers something far worse than silence: water that kills. Stranded and grieving, scientist Emily, survivalist Bash, and their last remaining colleague make a desperate bid to escape the forest—only to collide with Hazel and Caleb.

In this electrifying EMP thriller, airline pilot Ross races against time and chaos to save his wife and son from a world plunged into anarchy. With society unraveling, and accompanied by his co-pilot Henry, Ross's mission is fraught with perilous obstacles and ruthless adversaries. Meanwhile, his son Matthew faces his own treacherous journey, pursued by enigmatic enemies. This nail-biting tale of survival, courage, and unbreakable family bonds is a must-read for fans of high-stakes, post-apocalyptic action.

Around eight o'clock a.m. on December 26, a massive earthquake registering 9.1-9.3 on the Richter Scale struck off of Sumatra, Indonesia, making it the third strongest earthquake ever recorded by seismographs. On top of that, the earthquake shook for nearly 10 minutes and generated incredibly strong tsunami waves. Thanks to the element of surprise, people in the region had virtually no warning of what was coming. The tsunami waves pulverized entire towns and swept away hundreds of thousands of people across Southeast Asia.

One of AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of 2019! A New York Times Best Book of the Year A Time Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Winner From journalist Adam Higginbotham, the New York Times bestselling “account that...