And he will incur the wrath of biologists by drawing parallels between the sequence of colonisation and the 'Great Chain of Being', that canonical image of the supposed hierarchical development of life through time based on the notion of progressive evolution (you know how it goes: fish-amphibian-reptile-mammal-Homo sapiens, with each link in the chain being more evolutionarily 'advanced' than the previous one, whatever 'advanced' might mean). The body of literature on the colonisation of these sterile lands by different plants and animals is vast, but Winchester does little more than skate over its surface. But he is less convincing on other matters, including the ecological processes that were set in motion on the shattered remnants of the old volcano and the new one that is rising from the sea in its place. Winchester handles the physical consequences of the eruption with the sure-footedness of a former geologist. The effects were felt around the world, and for the first time the world was equipped to record the rumbles and atmospheric anomalies, the unusual tides and unearthly sunsets, and to tie these global phenomena to the single cause that was Krakatoa's demise.

It raised tsunamis that wreaked havoc along Indonesian coastlines, killing nearly 36,000 people. After several months of coughing, this terminal cataclysmic hack was so huge that it sent an atmospheric shockwave seven times around the Earth.

Krakatoa was the volcanic island west of Java that blew itself to smithereens on August 27 1883.

Krakatoa by Simon Winchester