The Johnstown Flood (Inscribed British First Edition, First Printing)

McCullough, David G.

ISBN 10: 0090874900 / ISBN 13: 9780090874903

Published by Hutchinson, 1968

About this Item

Inscribed British First Edition, First Printing of this narrative history of the catastrophic 1889 flood at Johnstown, Pennsylvania that is the first book by Pulitzer Prize winning historian David McCullough. Inscribed by David McCullough to previous owners on the title page. Black cloth, 302 pages. The book has a 1" by 1" paper remnant of a previous price sticker on the front endpaper. Otherwise minimal sign of previous use. The dust jacket has a bit of foxing on white areas and a small chip at the bottom edge of the spine.

Seller Inventory # 014567

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Johnstown Flood (Inscribed British First Edition, First Printing)
• Publisher: Hutchinson
• Publication Date: 1968
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0090874900
• ISBN 13: 9780090874903
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good+
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

May 31, 1889. Roaring down from the mountain, a wall of water, in some places 70 feet high, smashed through Johnstown, PA., killing, in a matter of minutes, over 2,000 men, women, and children, and leaving in it's wake not only tragic destruction but a national scandal that convulsed the country with horror and outrage.

Review

The history of civil engineering may sound boring, but in David McCullough's hands it is, well, riveting. His award-winning histories of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Panama Canal were preceded by this account of the disastrous dam failure that drowned Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1889. Written while the last survivors of the flood were still alive, McCullough's narrative weaves the stories of the town, the wealthy men who owned the dam, and the forces of nature into a seamless whole. His account is unforgettable: "The wave kept on coming straight toward him, heading for the very heart of the city. Stores, houses, trees, everything was going down in front of it, and the closer it came, the bigger it seemed to grow.... The height of the wall of water was at least thirty-six feet at the center.... The drowning and devastation of the city took just about ten minutes." A powerful, definitive book, and a tribute to the thousands who died in America's worst inland flood. --Mary Ellen Curtin