ABSTRACT

An introduction to hazards, human vulnerability and disaster, paying particular attention to the more severe or novel risks and disaster that affect the general public. The book is split into two parts, the first of which gives an overview of the field of risk and disaster in terms of three perspectives: hazards perspective; vulnerability perspective and the active perspective. The second part illustrates and develops these ideas in relation to some of the more severe dangers and disasters of the twentieth century, for example, earthquake risk, cities at risk and the civil disasters of war.


chapter |17 pages

Introduction: danger and modernity

part 1|176 pages

Approaches to risk and disaster

chapter 1|19 pages

Risk and damaging events

chapter 2|15 pages

The ‘geographicalness' of disaster

chapter 3|35 pages

Natural hazards

chapter 4|20 pages

Technological hazards

part 2|154 pages

Communities at risk, places of disaster