Giacomo Parrinello is a Marie Curie Fellow at the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University and the Institute of Social Ecology in Vienna. He has published in the fields of environmental history, history of urban planning, and modern Italian history.

"... an extremely interesting and well-written book, which takes two major Italian disasters in detail and uses them to tell a series of stories about urban change, the state, national identity, and other issues... The author is passionate about the subject matter he is dealing with - and the material itself is red hot." * John Foot, University of Bristol "This is a really fascinating and innovative study on disaster perception and management, on urban-rural development, and on the interconnections of environmental, political, social, and economic history. An essential book for all who want to better understand Sicily's history in the twentieth century." * Christian Rohr, University of Bern

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Sites of disaster map Introduction: Can Earthquakes Speak? The Voice of the Earthquake A Tale of Two Earthquakes The Structure of This Book Part I: The 1908 Messina Earthquake Chapter 1. The 1908 Messina Earthquake Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fire Earthquake Science Earthquake-Proof Urbanism Chapter 2. Urban Reform 1880-1908 Sanitizing the City A New Geography of Urban Water Engineering the City's Environment To Live Happily and Forget the Quake Chapter 3. The Modern City 1909-1943 The Provisional City (and Its Permanent Consequences) The Master Plan The City Developers versus the Hut Dwellers The New City and Its Darker Sides Part II: The 1968 Belice Valley Earthquake Chapter 4. The 1968 Belice Valley Earthquake "Like an Atomic Wasteland" The Disaster of Poverty Road Maps to Development Chapter 5. Rural Modernity 1933-1967 Reclamation and Redemption Development Plans Grassroots Counter-Measures The Many Virtues of Water Chapter 6. Urbanized Countryside 1968-1993 Tents, Barracks, and Committees The City Territory New Towns and Ghost Factories Rural Urbanism Conclusion: Fault Lines Tales of Earthquake Urbanism Fault Lines in a Seismic Country Hazards, Urbanization, and Nature Bibliography