This is the only volume to consider the earthquake and volcanic histories of the Azores across the whole archipelago and is based, not only on contemporary published research, but also on the detailed study of archival source materials. The authors seek to show how extreme environmental events, as expressed through eruptions, earthquakes and related process operating in the past may be considered using both complementary scientific and social scientific perspectives in order to reveal the ways in which Azorean society has been shaped by both an isolated location in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and the every present threat of environmental uncertainty. The audience for this volume includes all those who are interested in the geology, geography, history and hazard responses in the Azores. It is written, no just for the educated general reader, but for the specialist earth scientist and hazard researcher.