Isaac's Storm
A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Print & ebook · July 11, 2000
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The riveting true story of the Galveston hurricane of 1900, still the deadliest natural disaster in American history—from the acclaimed author of The Devil in the White City “A gripping account ... fascinating to its core, and all the more compelling for being true.” —The New York Times Book Review September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas.
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- Who it’s for
- A devastating hurricane story brings weather science, human error, and historical testimony into sharp focus.
- Themes
- Natural disaster, Meteorology and miscalculation, Personal tragedy
- Genres
- Natural Disasters, Meteorology & Climatology, 20th-Century America
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Start with this bookAbout this book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The riveting true story of the Galveston hurricane of 1900, still the deadliest natural disaster in American history—from the acclaimed author of The Devil in the White City “A gripping account ... fascinating to its core, and all the more compelling for being true.” —The New York Times Book Review September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas.
Continue reading
Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people—and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devastating personal tragedy. Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude.
Storm and Judgment
A devastating hurricane story brings weather science, human error, and historical testimony into sharp focus.
Come here for
- The tension of a catastrophe told through records and survivor testimony
- A close look at how hurricane science meets human judgment
Expect
- A layered account of a storm’s destruction and one man’s personal tragedy
- A sustained narrative grounded in letters, reports, and modern science
Where it sits
| Natural Disasters | 68% |
|---|---|
| 20th-Century America | 47% |
| Meteorology & Climatology | 40% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- 20th-Century America
- Environmental Science
- Meteorology & Climatology
- Authors
- Erik Larson
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Published
- July 11, 2000
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Natural disaster · Meteorology and miscalculation · Personal tragedy
- Reading lane
- 20th-Century America