On 8th May 1902, the citizens of Saint-Pierre, Martinique, huddled together in the spectacular cathedral of Notre Dame. For only God could save them from the disaster about to befall their city. Mont Pelee, the island volcano, had suddenly come alive. Within five minutes the beautiful city (hailed as the Paris of the Caribbean) had been destroyed along with its 30,000 inhabitants. It seemed that the only survivor was Ludger Sylbaris, a twenty-seven-year-old labourer who had spent the previous night in confinement in Saint-Pierre jail. The eruption was the most sensational event of its time. Sylbaris was taken on by P.T. Barnum's famous circus and became a minor celebrity as he toured America recounting the horrors of the explosion. Fire Mountain is the thrilling story of that fateful day, the complex political events that played a part in the tragedy and a fascinating history of the island itself.

On Thursday, 8 May 1902, the citizens of Saint-Pierre, Martinique, huddled together in their spectacular cathedral. For only God could save them from the disaster about to befall their city. Earlier that morning, the sky had turned black with volcanic dust and a slow, steady rain of ash had begun to fall. Mont Pelee, the island volcano that had remained dormant for so long, had suddenly come alive. Within minutes the beautiful city had been destroyed along with its thirty thousand inhabitants. The only apparent survivor of the disaster was Ludger Sylbaris, a twenty-seven-year-old laborer. This is the thrilling story of that fateful day.

Discusses the 1902 volcanic eruption on Martinique and the prisoner who survived it.

History, travel writing, and human tragedy collide in a heart-stopping work of narrative nonfiction. On May 8th, 1902, Mont Pel#65533;e in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, erupted, killing almost 30,000 people instantly and completely destroying the city known as the Paris of the Caribbean. It was a spectacular, biblical, horrifying disaster, without a doubt the most sensational event of its time. Days later, rescue teams heard cries from the rubble and uncovered Ludger Sylbaris, a twenty-seven-year-old laborer who had spent the night of the eruption in jail for his involvement in a bar fight and turned out to be-against all odds-the only known survivor. He was soon world famous, traveling across America as part of Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth. Using written eyewitness accounts and historical research, Peter Morgan spins this tale and more into a spellbinding narrative. Framed by Martinique's painful history, the disaster reveals layer upon layer of corruption: a French governor more concerned with public image than the safety of his fellow islanders, the moral conflict of a scientist who knew the risks but was told to keep them quiet, and the tangle of colonial attitudes that ultimately caused the death of thousands. With deft, literary strokes, in a book rich in detail, Peter Morgan delivers all the political intrigue, drama, heroism, and villainy of the greatest suspense novel - and every word is true.