Volcano in Paradise: Death and Survival on the Caribbean Island of Montserrat

In 1995 the paradise island of Montserrat, a tiny British Crown Colony in the Caribbean, has reggae and calypso in the air and cricket on the village greens. The new governor and police commissioner are enjoying the local combination of Irish and African heritage in a place where “the only crime is stealin’ time”. But towering over the St Patrick’s Day revellers is the silent presence of Chance’s Peak. If anyone ever knew it was a sleeping volcano, they have forgotten it for now. Until the mountain begins to wake. As the eruptions grow progressively worse, international experts descend on the island, trying to analyse the terrifying giant; a stream of refugees is moving the other way. Eventually the capital itself, Plymouth, is buried under burning clouds of red-hot rock and ash. Those caught in the eruptions – people, wildlife, farm animals or abandoned pets – have little chance; though there are some hair’s breadth escapes, there are also tragic losses. Meanwhile, refugees crammed into shelters, their homes destroyed, are told by Clare Short, the British minister responsible, that “they’ll be wanting golden elephants next”. The story of Montserrat is a tale of natural horrors and political questions, of the overwhelming power of the most terrifying of the earth’s phenomena – and of the undefeated spirit of the people of this lost paradise.