Book: Isaac's Storm

This book was the second book I read with my book group, and a completely different selection. This is a non-fiction history book about a catastrophic hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas in 1900. The title character, Isaac, runs the Galveston office of the U.S. Weather Bureau, an entity that was at the time very new.

For a lot of reasons, the bureau failed to predict the impending storm, Galveston was not evacuated, and the loss of life from this event was in excess of 6000 people, and the collateral damage devastating to the city.

Although non-fiction, the book was for the most part easy to follow as it was written in a very narrative style. The author captures a lot about Isaac, his family, and many of the residents of Galveston that he gained through extensive research of historical documents, including U.S. Weather Bureau reports and records and a book Isaac later published.

History buffs and Weather Channel aficionados will definitely like this book. I was pleasantly surprised myself.

Isaac's Storm

by Erik Larson

--

Originally posted at: http://rebeccasmiscellanies.blogspot.com/