Harry Mount

Lava Palaver

Vesuvius: The Most Famous Volcano in the World

By

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This summer, Mount Etna erupted dramatically enough for sunbathers on Sicilian beaches to turn their gaze from each other’s bottoms to the smoking cone, at least for a second or two. Still, though, Etna’s eruption got minimal news coverage. If Vesuvius erupted, the foreign correspondent pack would be booking themselves on the Roma–Napoli express train prontissimo.

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