The Aesthetics and Politics of Volcanoes: William Hamilton’s Campi Phlegraei

The Destruction of Nature

With his illustrated nature reports, William Hamilton shaped our idea of volca-noes. They are a testimony to the beauty and violence of nature, its aesthetics and its exploration, its destructive and creative power. The political relevance of William Hamilton’s nature writing and ecocriticism also lies in the fact that they make us aware of the violence of nature. Hamilton wrote about natural disasters of the past. Today, as a result of accelerated climate change, we are facing man-made ones.

The authors would like to thank Rex Clark for proofreading this text and his helpful comments.