Tsunami Chronicles: Adventures in Disaster Management

by Bill Nicol

Few natural disasters come bigger than the 2004 tsunami. It left a trail of destruction from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other. Hardest hit was Aceh in Indonesia’s west where the tsunami killed almost a quarter of a million people and left half million homeless as it smashed into a strip of coastline 800 kilometres long and several kilometres wide. The global community rallied to help in the largest military deployment since World War II. It then spent billions rebuilding Aceh in one of the most challenging reconstruction programs of its kind. "Tsunami Adventures in Disaster Management" tells the inside story of recovery. Written by the Indonesian Government’s senior advisor for tsunami recovery, Bill Nicol, it lays bare the tectonic political and managerial forces that swept along the rebuilding program with no less force than the tsunami itself. This is a powerful, first-hand narrative from a highly experienced journalist, author and consultant who played a pivotal role in the recovery operations. A series of six books in one book, "Tsunami Chronicles" offers rare and unique insights that will annoy some, anger a few, excite others and inspire many. It will appeal to anyone with an interest in international development and disaster recovery—humanitarian volunteers, aid workers, consultants, engineers, agency staff, institutional managers, policy makers and political leaders—as well as academics, students of management, business leaders and the general public.

608 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2013