Sherry F. (sherryfair) reviewed on 9/22/2005 + 55 more book reviews

The natural disasters in September 2005 hurricane season sadly enough make this book really topical and relevant. More than 2,000 people died in the 1889 Johnstown Flood because they had no warning that a dam had broken high up in the hills. But this famous disaster also was an occasion for shining displays of heroism by ordinary people. (Do not miss the account of the train's engineer trying to outrace the flood waters.) Also, the aftermath was the first opportunity for Clara Barton's newly organized Red Cross to prove its mettle. David McCullough's narrative is novelistic and riveting. If you've never read him before, this is an excellent book to start with. The first few chapters -- which discuss the earthen dam that was built by an exclusive social club of Pittsburgh millionaires -- are slower going, but try to stick with them. You'll want to remember this part, in later chapters, when the disaster's over and the stunned American public of 1889 begins to ask: "Why? Who's to blame?" As for the narrative of the flood itself, I guarantee you that, once the flood waters hit Johnstown, you will be rooting for all the townspeople you've come to care for, and you will not be able to put this book down.

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