Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History - Hardcover
At the dawn of the twentieth century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. The idea that a hurricane could damage the city of Galveston, Texas, where he was based, was to him preposterous, "an absurd delusion." It was 1900, a year when America felt bigger and stronger than ever before. Nothing in nature could hobble the gleaming city of Galveston, then a magical place that seemed destined to become the New York of the Gulf.
In Galveston, reassured by Cline's belief that no hurricane could seriously damage the city, there was celebration. Children played in the rising water. Hundreds of people gathered at the beach to marvel at the fantastically tall waves and gorgeous pink sky - until the surf began ripping the city's beloved beachfront apart. Within the next few hours Galveston would endure a hurricane that to this day remains the nation's deadliest natural disaster. Isaac's Storm is based on Cline's own letters, telegrams, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the hows and whys of great storms. Ultimately, however, it is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets nature's last great uncontrollable force. As such, Isaac's Storm carries a warning for our time.
In Galveston, reassured by Cline's belief that no hurricane could seriously damage the city, there was celebration. Children played in the rising water. Hundreds of people gathered at the beach to marvel at the fantastically tall waves and gorgeous pink sky - until the surf began ripping the city's beloved beachfront apart. Within the next few hours Galveston would endure a hurricane that to this day remains the nation's deadliest natural disaster. Isaac's Storm is based on Cline's own letters, telegrams, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the hows and whys of great storms. Ultimately, however, it is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets nature's last great uncontrollable force. As such, Isaac's Storm carries a warning for our time.
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Review:
Reading in his signature dispassionate style, narrator Edward Herrmann brings an eerie calm to this powerful chronicle of the deadliest storm ever to hit the United States--a huge and terribly destructive hurricane that struck land near Galveston, Texas in September of 1900. Author Erik Larson re-creates the events leading up to the disaster in astonishing detail, tracing the thoughts and actions of Isaac Cline, a scientist with America's burgeoning U.S. Weather Bureau. Cline's unwavering confidence--"In an age of scientific certainty one could not allow one's judgment to be clouded..."--blinds the meteorologist to the deadly onslaught about to be unleashed. Herrmann's calculated performance reflects the impending doom and dangers inherent to an unquestioned and absolute faith in science. (Running time: 5 hours, 3 cassettes) --George Laney
From the Back Cover:
"The best storm book I've read, consumed mostly in twenty-four hours; these pages filled me with dread. Days later, I am still glancing out the window nervously. A well-told story."-- Daniel Hays, author of My Old Man and the Sea
" Isaac's Storm so fully swept me away into another place, another time that I didn't want it to end. I braced myself from the monstrous winds, recoiled in shock at the sight of flailing children floating by, and shook my head at the hubris of our scientists who were so convinced that they had the weather all figured out. Erik Larson's writing is luminous, the story absolutely gripping. If there is one book to read as we enter a new millennium, it's Isaac's Storm, a tale that reminds us that there are forces at work out there well beyond our control, and maybe even well beyond our understanding."-- Alex Kotlowitz, author of The Other Side of the River and There Are No Children Here
"There is electricity in these pages, from the crackling wit and intelligence of the prose to the thrillingly described terrors of natural mayhem and unprecedented destruction. Though brimming with the subtleties of human nature, the nuances of history, and the poetry of landscapes, Isaac's Storm still might best be described as a sheer page turner."-- Melissa Faye Greene, author of Praying for Sheetrock and The Temple Bombing
"Superb...Larson has made [Isaac] Cline, turn-of-the-century Galveston, and the Great Hurricane live again." -- The Wall Stret Journal
"Erik Laron's accomplishment is to have made this great-storm story a very human one--thanks to his use of the large number of survivors' accounts--without ignoring the h urricane itself." -- The Boston Globe
"Vividly captures the devastation." -- Newsday
"This brilliant exploration of the hurrican's deadly force...tracks the gathering storm as if it were a character...Larson has the storyteller's gift of keeping the reader spellbound." -- The Times-Picayune
"With consumate narrative skill and insight into turn-of-the-century American culture...Larson's story is about the folly of all who believe that man can master or outwit the forces of nature." -- The News & Observer
"A powerful story...a classic tale of mankind versus nature." -- The Christian Science Monitor
From the Trade Paperback edition.
" Isaac's Storm so fully swept me away into another place, another time that I didn't want it to end. I braced myself from the monstrous winds, recoiled in shock at the sight of flailing children floating by, and shook my head at the hubris of our scientists who were so convinced that they had the weather all figured out. Erik Larson's writing is luminous, the story absolutely gripping. If there is one book to read as we enter a new millennium, it's Isaac's Storm, a tale that reminds us that there are forces at work out there well beyond our control, and maybe even well beyond our understanding."-- Alex Kotlowitz, author of The Other Side of the River and There Are No Children Here
"There is electricity in these pages, from the crackling wit and intelligence of the prose to the thrillingly described terrors of natural mayhem and unprecedented destruction. Though brimming with the subtleties of human nature, the nuances of history, and the poetry of landscapes, Isaac's Storm still might best be described as a sheer page turner."-- Melissa Faye Greene, author of Praying for Sheetrock and The Temple Bombing
"Superb...Larson has made [Isaac] Cline, turn-of-the-century Galveston, and the Great Hurricane live again." -- The Wall Stret Journal
"Erik Laron's accomplishment is to have made this great-storm story a very human one--thanks to his use of the large number of survivors' accounts--without ignoring the h urricane itself." -- The Boston Globe
"Vividly captures the devastation." -- Newsday
"This brilliant exploration of the hurrican's deadly force...tracks the gathering storm as if it were a character...Larson has the storyteller's gift of keeping the reader spellbound." -- The Times-Picayune
"With consumate narrative skill and insight into turn-of-the-century American culture...Larson's story is about the folly of all who believe that man can master or outwit the forces of nature." -- The News & Observer
"A powerful story...a classic tale of mankind versus nature." -- The Christian Science Monitor
From the Trade Paperback edition.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherDiane Pub Co
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0756756227
- ISBN 13 9780756756222
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages323
- Rating
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