Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

Version: Abridged
Author: Erik Larson
Narrator: Edward Herrmann
Genres: United States
Publisher: Random House Audio Assets
Published In: August 2006
# of Units: 5 CDs
Length: 6 hours
Ratings:
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Overview

National Bestseller

September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. 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 in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history--and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devestating 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. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful, Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature.

Selected Reviews

Isaac's Storm

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 3/5

Interesting

by Jane
  • Book Rating: 4/5

More...

Read All 6

Reviews (6)

Isaac's Storm

Written by Anonymous on February 26th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 3/5

This book was okay. In addition to learning a lot about a tragic natural disaster, the reader is exposed to interesting bits of intellectual/social history about the period. Certainly worth listening to.

Interesting

Written by Jane from Suwanee, GA on February 10th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 4/5

This is one of those books where you see how one person's decisions can affect the lives of so many. And how those decisions can change the course of a town's history. If not for this powerful storm and the decisions of its founders and developers, Galveston might be much more than what it is today. Thought provoking. It was well-written and kept me interested throughout.

Isaac's Storm

Written by Debbie Moffitt on April 12th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

What a great book. Vivid imagery brought the day to life. The narrator was one of the best I've heard.

a good read

Written by KD on January 9th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 4/5

You'd think having heard about the Galveston hurricane of 1900 as many times as we have, it would be tough to make a book about it new and interesting. But this book is. There is enough history of Isaac Cline and of the US Weather Bureau to make it engaging, and enough suspense to keep you listening even though the end is already known. It's worth a listen.

Horribly sad, wonderfully fascinating

Written by Kathleen Ross from Woodbury, CT on July 15th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 4/5

Larson manages to make the inevitable suspenseful. He included just enough history of the title character to give him life and make us care. The conflict within and around the early weather bureau was also very interesting. This was a quick, satisfying listen.

Issac's Storm

Written by Anonymous on January 25th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 4/5

The reader was wonderful; didn't have a clue that I would ever enjoy a book about the weather forecasting business so much; it was especially touching with the current tragedy of the Tsuamni that has just occured

Selected Reviews

Isaac's Storm

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 3/5

Interesting

by Jane
  • Book Rating: 4/5

More...

Read All 6

Author Details

Author Details

Larson, Erik

Erik Larson grew up in Freeport, Long Island and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Russian history and from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. He has written for many newspapers and national magazines, and has published three previous works of nonfiction, Isaac's Storm, Lethal Passage: The Story of a Gun, and The Naked Consumer. He lives in Seattle with his wife, their three daughters, and a host of pets.