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 kn...
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Sep 17, 2007
Nathan
rated it: 
Ever want to read a nonfiction tragedy about a presumptive meteorologist? Exactly. Still, Isaac's Storm is an engaging cautionary tale, and one with a bit of relevance for America today. In fact the book is almost foreshadowing in that it was published just a couple of years before Hurricane Katrina. The writing in this book is not nearly as tuned as it is in The Devil in the White City, but Larson is still better at this than nine of ten nonfiction writers. Side note: when Katrina hit, several
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Nov 30, 2008
Rachel
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Erik Larson delivers every time. He has the rare ability to take historical events and weave together yarns that in the end feel like you're reading a page-turning novel. In "Isaac's Storm" Larson takes us to a thriving seaside city in Texas circa 1900, to a time when people felt they could 'control' nature. He paints the story of how the infamous hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas, on September 8th of that year devastated not just a whole community but also destroyed people's fait
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Feb 02, 2009
Patrick
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The Isaac in question is Isaac Cline, a Galveston meteorologist at the turn of the last century who lacked the tools and wherewithal to predict one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit the Americas since record keeping. The author picks a dozen, or so, compelling people to follow as the monster storm builds, approaches then devastates the island. His research is detailed and exact. The writing is concise. The description of the strike is comparable more to a thriller than historical fiction
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Jun 24, 2011
Jon
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This book and author were highly recommended to me by a friend. I had never heard of Erik Larson, but after the recommendation, suddenly his name seemed to pop up everywhere, highly praised for a number of books. This one is the meticulously researched story of the hurricane that destroyed Galveston in 1900. It is without doubt an exciting page-turner with a lot of vividly described detail not only about the storm, but about everyday life in America in 1900. It has a large cast of characters, mo
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Jun 11, 2011
Marilyn
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In September 1900, a huge hurricane hit Galveston, Texas, killing at least 8000 people of a city of less than 40,000. These were the days before radar, when an adolescent National Weather Bureau made supremely confident forecasts based on limited telegraphed reports from elsewhere, barometric readings, knowledge of historical weather patterns, and simply going out and looking at the sky. This was also that time in history when it was believed that science would conquer nature, that all things we
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May 31, 2011
Chris
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I enjoyed this book but since I ready it after Devil in the White City you can't help but compare the two. This book suffers some from one being an earlier book and while you can really get a feel for his style already and how he draws you into a real life story as if it's a novel, he displays a tremendous ability to create true life descriptions and characters based on research, journal entries, and other sources such as biographies. I enjoyed reading this, in fact it was a beautiful summer d
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May 30, 2011
Spencer
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This book tells the story of the deadliest natural disaster to ever hit the US and the weatherman, Isaac, who failed to forecast it. In the Fall of 1900, a monstrous hurricane hit Galveston, Texas, completely inundating the city with water and killing between 6,000 and 10,000 people. The water level in the city rose 30-40 feet high and, along with winds between 150-200 mph, wiped out most of the city. There was little to no advance warning of the coming storm, but it wasn't so much because of
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Apr 25, 2011
Anna
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This book reminded me of Fastnet, Force 10 - just a storm close to the South coast of Ireland, where the storm caused dozens of people to die in a boat race 30 years ago. It's very close to my favorite spot of Ireland, Cape Clear, where one needs to go with a ferry, and where if the weather is really bad there is no way in or out. But there... people know the sea is stronger than the man. Houses are built on higher ground, making it more tsunami proof too than Kinsale (where a tsunami around a h
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Mar 18, 2011
Lori L
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Both my adult son and I would put Erik Larson's Isaac's Storm on our lists of top nonfiction books that everyone should read. We often refer to it in conversations. Not only is it about the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900, but all of the mistakes made that prevented any prediction of a hurricane. It's a brief history of weather forecasting. It's about how hubris and ambition can sometimes prevent accurate gathering of data. It's about how the combination of personalities in the
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Feb 17, 2011
Charmaine
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Some books have so much educational value that it’s a plus when they also entertain, which was so with “Isaac’s Storm.” This book was somewhat of a documentary told in a sparkling way so that it felt like a novel. Erik Larson tells the story from 3 fronts even though they intertwine as the story moves along:
1. Isaac Cline’s life is developed from beginning to end as a weatherman, a medical student, a scientist, a Sunday School teacher and a family man. He was highly motiva More...
Nov 15, 2010
Frank
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This was a engrossing and deeply tragic book. It is all about the devastating Galveston Hurricane on September 8, 1900. At that time, there was no advanced warning for hurricanes and no regional weather to focus on nearby multiple state forecasting. Meteorology was a new science. Tens of thousands of lives would have been saved with just a couple of days advanced warning. There was none because all weather related activities came out of Washington D.C. People did not move out of Galvesto
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Sep 09, 2010
Julie
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This book is about the hurricane that decimated Galveston, Texas in 1900. There's quite a bit of science in it, but it's pretty accessible. There's also quite a bit of history about Galveston of course, but also the Weather Bureau in its infancy and weather forecasting, also in its infancy at that time. The later chapters detailing the storm surge and the aftermath are particularly good (and harrowing). Very blunt, sort of just-the-facts writing, which suits that material perfectly. Some of
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May 22, 2010
'chris
rated it:
As a returning student I took a science course in Meteorology. Another returning student recommended this book and after finals, I got Isaac's Storm from my local library.
The book centers on a meteorologist from the turn of the 20th century-1900. At the time, there was a certain Euro-American arrogance about their use of technology and the fact that America was experiencing a boom time. The thinking was almost child-like, if it wasn't the fact that people's lives were effected.
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The book centers on a meteorologist from the turn of the 20th century-1900. At the time, there was a certain Euro-American arrogance about their use of technology and the fact that America was experiencing a boom time. The thinking was almost child-like, if it wasn't the fact that people's lives were effected.
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Mar 31, 2010
Matthew
rated it:
It's funny how well written history books can get you highly agitated at people who exited the earth many decades ago.
The Isaac of the title is Isaac Cline, the U.S. Weather Bureau's chief agent in Galveston, TX in 1900 when a hurricane struck that killed around 8,000 people.
Galveston today, even with its concrete sea wall, resembles several wheel barrow loads of sand dumped in the gulf. How anyone could imagine a hurricane could not harm it - well, these were learned we More...
The Isaac of the title is Isaac Cline, the U.S. Weather Bureau's chief agent in Galveston, TX in 1900 when a hurricane struck that killed around 8,000 people.
Galveston today, even with its concrete sea wall, resembles several wheel barrow loads of sand dumped in the gulf. How anyone could imagine a hurricane could not harm it - well, these were learned we More...
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Feb 06, 2010
Steven
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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. 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. the story of the horrific Galveston hurricane in 1900, when thousand More...
This is, on its face. the story of the horrific Galveston hurricane in 1900, when thousand More...
Jun 30, 2009
Leslie
rated it:
Intriguing look at a storm that I had only read references to before, the 1900 Galveston hurricane. The book encompasses the early years of the National Weather Service. Who would have thought that so much personal animosity and stupidity would have gone into the early years?! Of course, they were feeling their way along as the science of weather was being developed. As this ungodly storm was bearing down on Galveston, TX, Isaac Cline, the local weather man had no idea it was coming. For on
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Jun 26, 2009
'Aussie Rick'
rated it:
What a great story! This book just raced along full of facts and interesting detail about "a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history." I must admit that when this book was first released in Australia I wasn't overly interested. It didn't sound like something that would interest me in the slightest.
How wrong can you be, after picking the book up for the third or fourth time and actually taking the time to see what the story was about I had to read it. The author More...
How wrong can you be, after picking the book up for the third or fourth time and actually taking the time to see what the story was about I had to read it. The author More...
Jun 02, 2009
David
rated it:
Of all of the Erik Larsen books, this is my favorite thus far.
Without going off on a tangent about the others, this book is able to waver back and forth between Isaac and everything else in such a way that they all stay important. No part gets short shrift, and it's a solid accounting of the political infighting that certainly was to be found at the time.
I've seen complaints where Larsen took liberties with things that aren't true. So be it. I can say that here, better th More...
Without going off on a tangent about the others, this book is able to waver back and forth between Isaac and everything else in such a way that they all stay important. No part gets short shrift, and it's a solid accounting of the political infighting that certainly was to be found at the time.
I've seen complaints where Larsen took liberties with things that aren't true. So be it. I can say that here, better th More...
Apr 11, 2011
Keri ★TX
rated it:
I would give it 4.5 stars, not quite 5 stars though since, well, I'm not sure exactly why, but it came close. I still am hoping to find a hardcopy edition of the book to go back through and re-read since I listened to this as an audio book and from everything I have searched on the Internet, have found that this is an abridged edition. I want to be sure that I didn't miss anything. It might explain why parts didn't "flow" well together.
If it hadn't been a book selection fo More...
If it hadn't been a book selection fo More...
Feb 20, 2009
I love Erik Larson's work. For example, Devil in the White City is amazing. This book takes on the 1900 hurricane (this is before the naming system that exists today) that destroyed most of Galveston. The book really captures the exuberance of the age - both in terms of belief in science and in the future of Galveston. The US relationship with Cuba also figures prominently in this book. And it reads like a novel. There are times when you have to remind yourself that it's history.
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Jan 12, 2012
Anne (Booklady)
rated it:
3.33 Stars
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History is really a precautionary tale of hubris. Before Katrina, Andrew, and Frederic, was the worst and deadliest hurricane this nation has ever seen: the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. At least 6,000 people drowned or were lost (later estimates indicated the death tally actually was more toward 10,000). Among the casualties were members of Isaac Cline’s own immediate family. We can feel his horror and guilt as he i More...
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History is really a precautionary tale of hubris. Before Katrina, Andrew, and Frederic, was the worst and deadliest hurricane this nation has ever seen: the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. At least 6,000 people drowned or were lost (later estimates indicated the death tally actually was more toward 10,000). Among the casualties were members of Isaac Cline’s own immediate family. We can feel his horror and guilt as he i More...
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Sep 20, 2010
Linda
rated it:
A book of shattering details about an unimaginable storm of such gigantic proportions and devastation. Who knew the weather bureau was formed before 1900? What we take for granted today, satellite storm tracking, fairly accurate weather predictions, did not exist in 1900 and the book details not only Galveston's dramatic loss, but other storms that brought even larger loss of life. The story of Isaac Cline and his failure to acknowledge the storms possibilities and his lying after the fact of su
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Aug 02, 2009
Lesley
rated it:
I liked Erik Larson's previous book about serial killers and the Chicago World's Fair, and I'd read some good books about Galveston previously, so Isaac's Storm seemed right up my alley.
I think the more accurate rating for this book would've been 2 1/2 stars. Didn't really like or dislike it. The overwhelming thing that stood out to me was that it really felt like he didn't have enough material for a book here, so things were stretched out or made overly dramatic.
"Is More...
I think the more accurate rating for this book would've been 2 1/2 stars. Didn't really like or dislike it. The overwhelming thing that stood out to me was that it really felt like he didn't have enough material for a book here, so things were stretched out or made overly dramatic.
"Is More...
Feb 19, 2011
Ann
rated it: 
This book could have been awfully tedious, but it wasn't that at all for me. Early on in the book the author seemed to insinuate that Isaac should have known the hurricane was coming, but the author also protrayed Isaac as a scientist who did not react to much of anything, it seems, but things he could prove. He stayed his course, based on his training and knowledge and the truth as he knew it. In the end, he proved the worth of all that by not destroying documents that his supervisor request
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Jan 12, 2011
Joe
rated it:
Galveston, Texas was one of the most vulnerable US cities ever built. The tens of thousands of residents on the island in 1900 were unaware of this fact. Times were too exciting to be concerned with natural disasters: the frontier had closed, the American West was booming, and the race with Houston was on to become Texas’ primary port city. Besides, their trusted meteorologist, Isaac Cline, insisted as a rule that Texas was safe from hurricanes. Isaac’s Storm details the disastrous hurricane tha
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Nov 04, 2009
Michael
rated it:
If I can refer to reading about the tragic situation of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane as “enjoyable” without seeming like an A-hole then I will. Larson – later author of the excellent book about the Columbian Exposition and the lunatic hotelier a few blocks away – can certainly reconstruct a story. In this case he utilizes memoirs and other documents of a select few survivors as well as Weather Bureau archives and the history of scientific inquiry into hurricanes to recreate the days surrounding
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Jan 30, 2012
RC and Moon Pie
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It takes Larson a bit of time to start finding a rhythm with the book. The first few chapters about Isaac Cline, his life before Galveston, read like someone else wrote them. To me, it was as if Larson was trying to make the story more snarky or perhaps more funny than letting it naturally flow. The book really picks up as the hurricane makes its appearance close to Cuba and keeping getting better as it goes on.
I don't know if Larson's to blame or not for one of the selling points on More...
I don't know if Larson's to blame or not for one of the selling points on More...
Apr 26, 2011
Kay
rated it:
A study of a man... and a storm
It is instructive, in this time of changing weather patterns and global warming, to read this account of the deadliest storm ever to have struck the United States. Isaac's Storm is above all else a cautionary tale about the dangers of hubris. U.S. Weather Bureau employee Isaac Cline, head of Galveston's weather reporting station, felt confident that the city would sustain little more than moderate flooding should a tropical storm or even cyclone approac More...
It is instructive, in this time of changing weather patterns and global warming, to read this account of the deadliest storm ever to have struck the United States. Isaac's Storm is above all else a cautionary tale about the dangers of hubris. U.S. Weather Bureau employee Isaac Cline, head of Galveston's weather reporting station, felt confident that the city would sustain little more than moderate flooding should a tropical storm or even cyclone approac More...
Nov 10, 2011
Vandalay
rated it:
ISAAC’S STORM
Isaac’s Storm is a nonfiction book that takes us through the journey of a successful man who dealt with weathers. Isaac Cline, was a remarkable, well trained, and highly dedicated individual who worked for the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1900. It was his story that allows us to understand the historic record of the most destructive and biggest hurricane to ever hit North America in Galveston, Texas. The author was able to capture the fear that the hurricane posed for the people More...
Isaac’s Storm is a nonfiction book that takes us through the journey of a successful man who dealt with weathers. Isaac Cline, was a remarkable, well trained, and highly dedicated individual who worked for the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1900. It was his story that allows us to understand the historic record of the most destructive and biggest hurricane to ever hit North America in Galveston, Texas. The author was able to capture the fear that the hurricane posed for the people More...
