Bridget M. Hutter is Professor of Risk Regulation in the Department of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science. She is a leading authority on risk regulation and her book publications include Compliance (1997); Regulation and Risk (2001); Organizational Encounters with Risk (Cambridge, 2005); and Anticipating Risks and Organizing Regulation (Cambridge, 2010). Sally Lloyd-Bostock is Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was Professor of Psychology and Law at the University of Birmingham and Director of the University's Institute of Judicial Administration. She is widely known for her influential work in psychology and law.

'This is a careful and nuanced account of regulatory crisis that is both illuminating and surprising. Hutter and Lloyd-Bostock show how regulatory crises can emerge, fester or fade through the complex interplay of events, institutions and individuals. Their analysis eschews a bland narrative in favour of richness of detail that provides the reader with a depth and authority of insight.' Fiona Haines, University of Melbourne, Australia

• 1. Risk regulation and high profile disasters: regulatory crisis as a distinct phenomenon; 2. Regulatory environments preceding the crisis; 3. Recognizing disasters and crises: emergence and crystallisation; 4. The many shapes of regulatory crisis; 5. Official sense-making: inquiries and inquests; 6. Responses to inquiry findings: reacting and reorganizing; 7. Regulatory crises: recapitulations, conclusions and theoretical implications; Bibliography; Index.

Bridget M. Hutter is Professor of Risk Regulation in the Department of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science. She is a leading authority on risk regulation and her book publications include Compliance (1997); Regulation and Risk (2001); Organizational Encounters with Risk (Cambridge, 2005); and Anticipating Risks and Organizing Regulation (Cambridge, 2010). Sally Lloyd-Bostock is Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was Professor of Psychology and Law at the University of Birmingham and Director of the University's Institute of Judicial Administration. She is widely known for her influential work in psychology and law.

'This is a careful and nuanced account of regulatory crisis that is both illuminating and surprising. Hutter and Lloyd-Bostock show how regulatory crises can emerge, fester or fade through the complex interplay of events, institutions and individuals. Their analysis eschews a bland narrative in favour of richness of detail that provides the reader with a depth and authority of insight.' Fiona Haines, University of Melbourne, Australia

• 1. Risk regulation and high profile disasters: regulatory crisis as a distinct phenomenon; 2. Regulatory environments preceding the crisis; 3. Recognizing disasters and crises: emergence and crystallisation; 4. The many shapes of regulatory crisis; 5. Official sense-making: inquiries and inquests; 6. Responses to inquiry findings: reacting and reorganizing; 7. Regulatory crises: recapitulations, conclusions and theoretical implications; Bibliography; Index.

Bridget M. Hutter is Professor of Risk Regulation in the Department of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science. She is a leading authority on risk regulation and her book publications include Compliance (1997); Regulation and Risk (2001); Organizational Encounters with Risk (Cambridge, 2005); and Anticipating Risks and Organizing Regulation (Cambridge, 2010). Sally Lloyd-Bostock is Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was Professor of Psychology and Law at the University of Birmingham and Director of the University's Institute of Judicial Administration. She is widely known for her influential work in psychology and law.

'This is a careful and nuanced account of regulatory crisis that is both illuminating and surprising. Hutter and Lloyd-Bostock show how regulatory crises can emerge, fester or fade through the complex interplay of events, institutions and individuals. Their analysis eschews a bland narrative in favour of richness of detail that provides the reader with a depth and authority of insight.' Fiona Haines, University of Melbourne, Australia

• 1. Risk regulation and high profile disasters: regulatory crisis as a distinct phenomenon; 2. Regulatory environments preceding the crisis; 3. Recognizing disasters and crises: emergence and crystallisation; 4. The many shapes of regulatory crisis; 5. Official sense-making: inquiries and inquests; 6. Responses to inquiry findings: reacting and reorganizing; 7. Regulatory crises: recapitulations, conclusions and theoretical implications; Bibliography; Index.