In this richly illustrated account, James Hamilton explores the scientific and cultural history of the volcano. The book moves from Greek and Roman myth to the earliest-known wall painting of an erupting volcano in 6200 BC, to the distinctive colours of Andy Warhol, to Michael Sandle's exploding mountains of the 1980s.

James Hamilton is an art historian and author of many books, including London Lights: The Minds that Moved the City that Shook the World 1805-51 and Turner and Italy.