A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906

New York: Harper Collins, 2005. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Near Fine. 6x1x9. First edition. Boards a bit smudged, small sticker on rear jacket corner otherwise jacket is excellent. 2005 Hard Cover. xiv, 462 pp. 8vo. Maps on endpapers showing North American tectonic plates, past earthquakes and volcanoes, and author's travel route, black-and-white photographs and maps in text. "Unleashed by ancient geologic forces, a magnitude 8.25 earthquake rocked San Francisco in the early hours of April 18, 1906. Less than a minute later, the city lay in ruins. Bestselling author Simon Winchester brings his inimitable storytelling abilities to this extraordinary event, exploring the legendary earthquake and fires that spread horror across San Francisco and northern California in 1906 as well as its startling impact on American history and, just as important, what science has recently revealed about the fascinating subterranean processes that produced it - and almost certainly will cause it to strike again.