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Ruthless Tide: The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America's Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster

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Ruthless Tide: The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America's Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster

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Audio CD(Unabridged)
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Overview

Central Pennsylvania's Great Flood of 1889 remains the deadliest in US history, killing more than 2,200 people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538419359
Publisher:	HarperAudio
Publication date:	05/22/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Al Roker is cohost of NBC’s Today. He has received thirteen Emmy Awards, ten for his work on Today. He is the author of The Storm of the Century, an acclaimed history of the 1900 Galveston hurricane. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, ABC News and 20/20 correspondent Deborah Roberts, and has two daughters and a son.

Map: "Bird's-Eye View of the Conemaugh Valley" viii

Prologue: "Mr. Quinn Is Too Fearful" 1

Part I Members and Novembers

1 Up on the Mountain 21

2 Down in the Valley 41

3 How to Make a Lake 65

4 "No Danger from Our Enterprise" 83

5 Rain 99

Part II When the Dam Broke

6 Tap-Tap-Tap 117

7 A Monster Unchained 131

8 Cauldron 145

9 The Night of the Johnstown Flood 163

10 Alone in the World 177

Part III Justice and Charity

11 Some Convulsion 197

12 Poor, Lone Woman 217

13 Frozen with Fear 235

14 Strict Liability 247

Epilogue: Song and Story 263

Acknowledgments 279

A Note on Sources and Further Reading 281

Bibliography 285

Index 293

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

03/26/2018
TV meteorologist Roker (The Storm of the Century) revisits the Johnstown Flood, the 19th-century disaster that destroyed a Pennsylvania town, killed thousands, and raised questions of privilege and liability that still resonate. In the Allegheny Mountains, a poorly engineered dam holding back a lake created for an exclusive summer resort gave way on May 31, 1889, sending 20 million tons of debris-choked water hurtling into the town. Roker, with a weatherman’s eye, describes the formation of the unprecedented rainstorms that led to the flooding and the “monster unchained” that was the flood itself. He also tells the stories of locals—including Gertrude Quinn, a child who rode out the catastrophe on a floating mattress, and Victor Heiser, a teenager who helped try to save others from postflooding fires—and connects the incident to larger questions: “Sometimes,” he writes, “people do things to change the natural situation in ways that, regardless of intention, create human responsibility.” The wealthy members of the resort (among them Andrew Carnegie) didn’t mean to hurt anyone, but caused the destruction through negligence, for which they were not held legally accountable. Roker’s story is both a good yarn and a morality tale about how the powerful can avoid blame for problems caused by their privilege. (May)

Publishers Weekly

The Today show co-host and weatherman writes a narrative history of the 1889 Johnstown flood, the deadliest in American history, immersing himself in the weather of the past.” — New York Times Book Review (“New & Noteworthy”)
“Roker takes readers back to Pennsylvania in 1889, and the deadliest flood in American history. … A tale that involves engineering, history, manufacturing giants, and of course, the weather.” — Popular Science (”New Science Books to Read this Weekend”)
“An exciting, tragic story seasoned with sensitive social analysis and criticism.” — Kirkus, starred review
“Roker’s harrowing tale of survival and loss… reads like a nail-biting thriller.” — Library Journal, starred review
“[A] riveting account of the Johnstown Flood, which still remains the deadliest natural disaster on American soil. … [A] page-turner sure to please.” — Booklist
“Both a good yarn and a morality tale. ... Roker, with a weatherman’s eye, describes the formation of the unprecedented rainstorms that led to the flooding and the ‘monster unchained’ that was the flood itself.” — Publishers Weekly
“Vividly told. … A stirring story of an event with lasting repurcussions.” — Bookreporter.com

From the Publisher

The Today show co-host and weatherman writes a narrative history of the 1889 Johnstown flood, the deadliest in American history, immersing himself in the weather of the past.

New York Times Book Review (“New & Noteworthy”)

Roker takes readers back to Pennsylvania in 1889, and the deadliest flood in American history. … A tale that involves engineering, history, manufacturing giants, and of course, the weather.

Popular Science (”New Science Books to Read this Weekend”)

Vividly told. … A stirring story of an event with lasting repurcussions.

Bookreporter.com

[A] riveting account of the Johnstown Flood, which still remains the deadliest natural disaster on American soil. … [A] page-turner sure to please.

Booklist

Roker takes readers back to Pennsylvania in 1889, and the deadliest flood in American history. … A tale that involves engineering, history, manufacturing giants, and of course, the weather.

Popular Science ("New Science Books to Read this Weekend")

The Today show co-host and weatherman writes a narrative history of the 1889 Johnstown flood, the deadliest in American history, immersing himself in the weather of the past.

New York Times Book Review ("New &Noteworthy")

★ 2018-03-19
The ebullient weather personality from NBC's Today show returns with a flood account that is both intimate and alert to the wealth and class distinctions highlighted by the 1889 Johnstown Flood.Roker, who wrote about a 1900 hurricane (The Storm of the Century, 2015, etc.), has some sizable footsteps to follow in this one—David McCullough's 1968 The Johnstown Flood—but he fills them nicely in this fresh account of the Pennsylvania dam break that destroyed Johnstown and killed more than 2,000 people. Roker is especially adept at focusing on key individuals—residents, politicians, movers and shakers, rescue workers—and letting their stories represent the myriads of others. One harrowing tale involves the improbable rescue of a little girl in the swirling torrent that struck the town during a heavy rain when a dam, 14 miles away (and above the town), broke and sent millions of tons of water surging down into Johnstown and some small communities that lay in the torrent's path. The author is also very alert to the class issues that underlay it all. The earthen dam formed a lake for some very wealthy citizens (among them, Andrew Carnegie), who, of course, denied responsibility afterward. Roker notes that only 35 of the 60 members of this wealthy-person's club contributed to the relief fund. The author also goes into detail—sometimes too much—about some of the individuals involved: Carnegie, Clara Barton (whose Red Cross would swell in public awareness afterward), and numerous others. He points out some inconsistencies in American thought, as well—about how, for instance, we are quick to help people suffering in a natural disaster but not suffering from everyday poverty and disease. He also discusses some of the nasty anti-immigrant feelings that emerged during the cleanup.An exciting, tragic story seasoned with sensitive social analysis and criticism.

Kirkus Reviews

Ruthless Tide: The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America's Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster

Ruthless Tide: The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America's Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster

Audio CD(Unabridged)

Audio CD(Unabridged)

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews