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Larson, Erik. 1999. ISAAC’S STORM: A MAN, A TIME, AND THE DEADLIEST HURRICANE IN HISTORY. New York: Vintage Books. 273pp.
After growing up on Long Island in New York, Erik Larson went to Pennsylvania and majored in History as an undergrad. After graduating he worked in a publishing office, which is when he decided to continue his education and earn a Master’s Degree in Journalism. He went on to write many newspaper columns, magazine articles and a number of non-fiction books. Isaac’s Storm, which was his third book, is about the devastating hurricane that pounded the shores of Galveston, Texas in the year 1900. This book proved to be the turning point for Larson in his writing career. He wrote this best selling non-fiction book just before the 100-year anniversary of the devastating category four hurricane. Because of his great success in bringing this forgotten piece of history to life, he was invited to be a part of Galveston’s commemoration of a memorial to the victims and survivors of the terrible storm.
Erik Larson is committed to presenting the most accurate details of history he possibly can. He does so by conducting all of his own research to try to recreate the feelings, smells, and ambience of a time and place. Part of this research includes gathering data including old weather reports, telegrams, and public documents. While Erik was conducting research on one of his books, he stumbled across information regarding the deadly hurricane that hit the booming town of Galveston, Texas. He soon realized that this immense disaster was not widely known. It was his absolute intention to bring back to life, this amazing piece of forgotten history. He knows that meteorological enthusiasts and history buffs would love to read this tale, but because Erik possesses the ability to communicate complicated ideas in simple terms, Isaac’s storm is not just for weathermen and history buffs. This is a gripping story that demonstrates in great detail how people lived during the turn of the century, gives amazing insight to the beginning of weather forecasting as well as scientific explanations of weather, and what it was like to go through such a catastrophic storm in the year 1900.
Much of the story is based around the life of Isaac Cline, who was one of the nations top weathermen. Because Isaac was excellent at keeping journals and records, Erik Larson was able to recreate the many years that passed through Isaac’s life leading up to and after the hurricane. These journals and documents helped Larson set the scene and immerse the reader into the setting. Ways in which this was done was the illustrations of historical events such as presidential elections, the Spanish American War and the development of the Panama Canal. He tells of a time when electricity and telephone services were just starting to spread through the bigger cities. Larson gives great descriptions of such particular smells and sounds of horse-driven carriages and locomotives, which lend a hand in recreating the historic atmosphere.
This story is told at a time when Galveston was an emerging major city in the nation and was in a heated race with Houston to be the port authority to the Gulf of Mexico. Not only did the geographical location of the area push this growth along, but the major technological advances at the time also facilitated the boom. These factors gave man astounding and dangerous hubris. The clever idea of weaving telegrams and editorial quotes into his story helps Larson demonstrate Galveston’s oblivious ignorance at a time when the “average American felt 400% bigger than the year before”. For example, Isaac Cline’s statement in an 1891 article; “It would be impossible for any cyclone to create a storm wave which could materially injure the city”, and that it would be “an absurd delusion.”
Erik Larson does an outstanding job at describing the physical science behind storms. This was something that was a new science at Isaac’s time. The history of weather and storm law is revealed in such an interesting way, it does not bore the reader. In fact, the book goes through the history of the first cyclone being tracked and recorded up to more recent disasters such as Hurricane Andrew. The author tells how the Signal Corp, the first weather service of the nation, forbade forecasting of weather. He also goes into detail about the rivalry with Cuba’s weather services and how communication with them was also forbidden. The people of Galveston were caught completely off guard when the storm approached from the Gulf. The entire city had been submerged under the rising sea destroying the entire area and killing over 6,000 people. Erik Larson was able to accomplish the arduous task of finding numerous personal accounts of the powerful storm. He includes these stories in his book in a way that can actually make the reader feel as if they experienced the storm themselves. The only thing missing is pictures.
Being in seven hurricanes myself, I feel this book does a great job in representing the feeling of an oncoming storm, the stress of awaiting the storm’s end, and the misery of cleaning up and rebuilding after the fact. I was also quite impressed with how much I learned about the nations history in weather services along with the science of weather itself. I have taken college courses and read text books associated with American history, weather and climate as well as coastal and marine science, but have never absorbed so much information from one book. The story of Isaac’s storm would be a perfect supplement to any related course involved with weather, coastal areas or even early American History.
I think a lot of credit should be given to Erik Larson for doing such an outstanding job in recreating this piece of history. Considering the destruction of the storm, it is amazing he was able to assemble so much data in the form of telegrams, newspaper clippings, journals and personal accounts. The author has also done a spectacular job giving the reader about 30-40 pages of his sources and personal notes which will help to invite more insight to this time and storm. This book is not a history book. This book is not a textbook on weather. This book is a non-fiction book about one of the nations deadliest storms, the nations hubris at the turn of the century, and the nations history in weather service. This book is a must read!