Of all the earth's heights and depths that man explores, few call for more courage than a volcano. For not merely dead volcanoes but also monsters that are still very much alive attract the volcanologist. So we learn in this book, another in Willard Price's series of adventure stories about Hal and Roger Hunt.

Across thousands of miles of the Pacific the two brothers range with Dr. Dan Adams, on an expedition to gather data about volcanoes for the American Museum of Natural History. Of the world's three hundred active volcanoes, seven-eighths are in the Pacific; and here are twenty islands that did not exist fifty years ago, islands thrown up by submarine eruptions.

First the trio explore volcanoes and boiling lakes in Japan, then they join their friends of previous expeditions, Captain Ike and Omo, aboard the schooner Lively Lady and continue their search through islands to the south.

Their feats seem incredible to the uninitiated—climbing down the inner cones of volcanic peaks, even descending 1250 feet almost to the boiling lava surface inside a crater, surviving almost unendurable heat when trapped in a lagoon during an eruption—and yet every one of these episodes is not merely possible; all of them have actually occurred and are matters of record.

Almost as suspenseful as the Hunts' volcanic adventures is the story of Dr. Adams, whose often strange behavior has everyone else mystified until it is dramatically cleared up at the end of the expedition.

Willard Price has personally visited all the scenes described. In his pursuit of information on the habits of volcanoes, he has climbed Asama, Aso, Mihara, Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Paricutin and Vesuvius, and has flown over Popocatepetl, Pelee, Momotombo, Izalco, Misti, Stromboli, Etna, Uracas and Apo.

From the dust jacket