This engaging new account of the powerful Tunguska explosion of 1908 provides a fresh look at the enigmatic disaster and the generations of researchers who have tried to understand it. Taking readers inside expeditions and investigations to explore the role of mystery in environmental history, Bruno examines the legacy of the explosion.

Andy Bruno is an environmental historian and associate professor at Northern Illinois University. He is the author of The Nature of Soviet Power: An Arctic Environmental History (2016).

Note on sources, abbreviations, terminology, and transliteration; 1. Landscape of mystery; 2. Destruction from the sky; 3. Reaching the inaccessible terrain; 4. Poking and prodding for answers; 5. Cosmic fantasies; 6. Volunteers take charge; 7. Life in Tunguska; 8. Protecting the taiga; 9. Views from afar; 10. Siberian and planetary futures; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.