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Other of Larson's books focus on one or a handful of key actors to provide perspective. The heart of the book is the set of subtle--not understood--indicators that a storm was barreling toward Galveston. the story of the horrific Galveston hurricane in 1900, when thousands perished. I have read a couple of Erik Larson's books over the past couple years, "Thunderstruck" and "The Devil in the White City." I was riveted by both books, finding them very powerful indeed. At the close of the book, we learn of the fates of a number of the key characters in the tale, as told by Larson.In short, another fine work by Larson. For instance, it was held to be extremely unlikely that a storm could track due west from Cuba without bending to the north before striking the Texas coast.
But the emphasis on him as a person provides a context for his role at Galveston.This was in an era when hurricanes were not understood well--or, if understood, understood wrongly.
Here, the focal figure is Isaac Cline, the meteorologist with the weather service who worked in the Galveston office at the time of the hurricane.
These vignettes provide a very human element to the book.The detail provided as the storm strikes Galveston makes the awful impact understandable.
In response to a review of one of these book's someone suggested that I read "Isaac's Storm." I took up that suggestion, and see this as one part of the Tri-fecta of Larson's works.This is, on its face.
There are vignettes about a number of families as they went about their business as the killer hurricane bore down on them.
It is also the story of a bureaucracy, the weather service, and its perspectives that were sometimes dysfunctional (e.g., contempt for Cuban meteorologists and efforts to downplay the possibility of hurricanes occurring).
There is a lot of biographical information in Cline and his family, perhaps too much so for forward momentum.
The horror of the hurricane is well told.
I'm not sure that it is quite as good as the other two volumes mentioned at the outset, but if you are interested in the Galveston hurricane, this is an accessible introduction to the subject.
Now if it had been available on the kindle, I may have liked it more.
Together they put the storm in perspective of its times and help illustrate the devastating effect the storm must have had on the small island. Towards the middle, the story became a lot tighter and it was a joy to read.Before reading some of these reviews, I was unaware that Cline was considered a hero in Galveston. Weather Bureau through the career of Galveston's resident meteorologist, Isaac Cline. For a thrilling read, its hard to go wrong with the Galveston hurricane of 1900. I have to admit, I agree with the author that Cline probably didn't warn and save all the people he said he did or else, more survivors would have also mentioned hearing his warning. The narrative at the beginning of the book was also confusing because it kept switching back and forth between the day of the hurricane and earlier parts of Cline's life and career.
After awhile I gave up trying to find any location mentioned in the book on the map.
When we get to the actual storm, the devastation is made even more real by our understanding of this backstory.The lack of pictures and maps though was infuriating.
However, I think for a government official of Cline's time, doing the right thing also included playing the politics of new, insecure and unappreciated government agency.
The author brings some background on day to day life at the turn of the century, backstories and narratives from some of the survivors as well as a short history of the fledgling U.S.
It's true he doesn't seem super-heroic in this book but he doesn't seem like a bad guy either; just a normal 19th century Victorian who is conscientious, meticulous, and tries to do the right thing.
The small map of Galveston was hard to read and the narrative left out important location information about important sites.
I wanted to find the location of the gentlemens bar/restaurant that first crashed but the book only listed one street and not the cross street.
He at least refused to hide the illegal campaigning of his superior and former friend which tells me he was not satisfied with the bureau's handling of the hurricane and perhaps he was not satisfied with his own response.
Overall a gripping read which would have been perfect with more pictures, maps, and other practical details to follow the storm.
3 stars for this book at times it was dry but overall ok reading
I received this book very quickly after I placed the order. It was also exactly in the condition as described by this seller. I would recommend buying from this seller.
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