This impressive scientific resource presents up-to-date information on ten thousand years of volcanic activity on Earth. In the decade and a half since the previous edition was published new studies have refined assessments of the ages of many volcanoes, and several thousand new eruptions have been documented. This edition updates the book's key components: a directory of volcanoes active during the Holocene; a chronology of eruptions over the past ten thousand years; a gazetteer of volcano names, synonyms, and subsidiary features; an extensive list of references; and an introduction placing these data in context. This edition also includes new photographs, data on the most common rock types forming each volcano, information on population densities near volcanoes, and other features, making it the most comprehensive source available on Earth's dynamic volcanism.

Lee Siebert and Paul Kimberly are volcanologists affiliated with the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program; Siebert is the GVP's Director. Tom Simkin (1933-2009), served as GVP founder and director from 1968-1995 in a distinguished career in volcanology that spanned more than four decades.