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McCullough's first book and it's a winner. This flood was caused as much by human failure as by nature's rainfall. Building a dam to increase trout fishing and not keeping it in repair caused several towns in Pennsylvania to completely disappear. Hundreds of people died. Even just listening to the story was scary, I can't imagine seeing it (though I believe there is a PBS documentary on this occurance). Reading this book just as the recent hurricanes were devastating Florida (and looking at the
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A horrifying story of a man-made tsunami and it's devastation -- well written although not profoundly so.
It's interesting how many disaster/tragedy themes (arguments over distribution of relief funds, the search for blame, the positive and negative role of the media, the early arrival of disaster tourists) seem to be universal . . . this was particularly notable because we listened to this immediately following Columbine, which had similar stories to tell a century apart after two very differen ...more
It's interesting how many disaster/tragedy themes (arguments over distribution of relief funds, the search for blame, the positive and negative role of the media, the early arrival of disaster tourists) seem to be universal . . . this was particularly notable because we listened to this immediately following Columbine, which had similar stories to tell a century apart after two very differen ...more
After reading two fiction books with the Johnstown Flood as the back drop, I felt a non-fiction book was in order. Historical NF author/rock star David McCullough was born in Pittsburgh and even though this was originally published in the 60s, it is still considered one of the best about this subject. And while the flood happened over 120 years ago, the concept of social responsibility and the disparity of classes continues to be timely today. The accountability of a dam that was technically fau
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Edward Herrmann narrates and he is fabulous. The first part of the book is build-up and background about the dam and things, but then it gets really riveting when the dam breaks. I like connecting with characters, so I think I would have been more into it if the book had followed a handful of people throughout the tragedy. But it was interesting and Edward Herrmann could probably read me the phone book and I'd be okay with it.
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Jul 10, 2014
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