Vesuvius A.D. 79 is an exceptional book in at least two important ways. 

First, it gives the most up-to-date accounting of the eruption of Vesuvius on August 24 and 24, AD 79. This combination account using scientific, historical, and literary sources is worth the price of the book alone--both for its clarity and organization. 

Second, the book then turns to the discovery of human remains at Pompeii, a subject given one or two pages at most in other books on the subject. Here, the authors devote almost 20 pages to the most thorough discussion of the human remains published in a popular book so far. Early excavators were not particularly interested in skeletons when they began showing up in 1748. Rather, they were much more intrigued with the objects they carried, especially if they were coins or jewelry. Only when Fiorelli began to pour plaster of Paris into the hollow shapes left by the decaying bodies, creating plaster casts--really a kind of mummy--of the victim's last moments, did the human tragedy of Pompeii finally come to life. De Carolis and Patricelli give a brief summary of these human discoveries. Then they launch into the stories and legends associated with the human remains: from the human sentry at the Herculaneum gate to the canine sentry at the House of Orpheus to the group of thirteen victims struck down at the Garden of the Fugitives, the authors try to separate fact from fiction.

Throughout, the book is well-illustrated with photographs, many in color. If you want to know the latest scientific information about the eruption and its aftermath, you will not want to miss this book. Highly, highly recommended.