Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	Dangerous Planet Natural Disasters that Changed History
	Author:	Barnard, Bryn
	Date Published:	2003
	Genre:	Non-Fiction
	Grade Level:	5 - 8
	Booktalker:	Marilyn Bunker

Booktalk:
We live in a world governed by chance. Events tumble one after the other like pebbles washed down a stream. Some are small, like the random puff of wind that spreads a dandelion’s seeds. Some are big, like the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs. Most are in between, such as the movement of continents or the collapse of a civilization. This book is about natural disasters that have had far reaching effects. Imagine a world without ancient Greece. No Trojan Wars. No Greek civilization. Nor Roman civilization, at least not one based on Greek models. No Roman Republic. No Roman Law. No Roman arches, nor domes, nor columns. No Romance languages, no French, no Spanish, no English. Thirty-six centuries ago, there were two brilliant Bronze Age cultures that would shape the destiny of western civilization. The Mycenaean people were a conquering warrior culture, based on the Greek mainland. The Minoans were a peaceful maritime people centered on the island of Crete. Both cultures had been influenced by the two great civilizations of the day, Egypt and Mesopotamia. By 2100 BC the Minoans had developed a distinct culture that was more advanced that anything seen before in Europe. They created two writing systems, neither of which had been deciphered by modern scholars. One was based on hieroglyphic symbols, and the other was on syllable-based script. Their pottery and metalwork was exported throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The Minoans became rich on trade. They built large multistory, stone and wood homes. They had elaborate plumbing, hot and cold running water, and flush toilets. They had beautiful wall paintings, and meals were prepared in bronze pots that looked remarkably like the cookware of today. What was most amazing was that they had no defenses at all. Their navy was unrivaled and they lived without fear of invasion. Imagine 1500 years of peace. Then around 1628 B.C., the Minoan Island of Kalliste, a volcanic island, only 60 miles from Crete exploded with the force of 150 Hydrogen bombs. The blast excavated a submarine crater 8 miles wide, shot 50 cubic miles of superheated ash and rock out into space and across the sea. Trees were incinerated, people turned into charcoal, by the superheated air. The spreading volcanic dust cloud covered Kalliste under thick layers of hot ash, pumice, and stone. The explosion itself generated an enormous ocean wave, called a tsunami by the Japanese. The Kalliste tsunami hit the coastlines of Crete, Greece, and even Egypt. In parts of Turkey the waves were over 800 feet high and reached 30 miles inland. Through out the Minoan world houses were ripped off their foundations, ships were smashed to kindling. The Minoan civilization never recovered. Their fleet was decimated, their cities ruined and their economy stressed by the survivors. The Mycenaean people invaded Minoa and became a major Mediterranean power for 500 years. Everything changed in one natural disaster. This book is full of natural disasters. A snow storm that created the New York subway system. Two Storms that saved Japan from a Mongolian conquest in 1274 and 1281 A.D: The London fire in 1666 that killed 68,000 people and changed that way people built their homes. Catastrophes that changed the course of history.