On March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake sent a 120-foot-high tsunami smashing into the coast of northeast Japan. By the time the sea retreated, more than 18,000 people had been crushed, burned to death, or drowned. It was Japan's greatest single loss of life since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, and it set off the meltdown of a nuclear power plant. Journalist Richard Lloyd Parry lived through the Tokyo earthquake and spent six years reporting from the disaster zone. Here he shares unforgettable stories of how a nation faced a catastrophe, as the Japanese confronted the lingering issues of blame and fear, while struggling to find consolation in the ruins.