Rating: 
Summary: Riveting!
Review: "Well researched" and "riveting" are not often descriptions that go together in the same book review. Recountings of historical events are often factual and dry. In "Isaac's Storm", Larson has done an excellent job of describing a historical event while making it as real and exciting as if one were in the middle of the storm itself. I could not put it down!
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Summary: Issac's Storm Blew me away!
Review: It's amazing how more times change, people don't. This book was a Xmas gift from my mom (the one who read it before wrapping it). Reliance on technology, arrogance towards mother nature, and political infighting. This story could have taken place in 1999. An interesting read that I couldn't put down. This is one of those books that leave you wanting more. I'd like to see it as a movie but know that it wouldn't be as half as good as the book.
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Summary: Hurricans Always Win - Pay Attention
Review: Erik Larson has made an important contribution to history and more specifically to that of meteorology. We live in an era in which it is possible to download a high resolution color satellite image of a category 4 hurricane from a lap-top computer while on board a ship being chased by the very same hurricane. This reviewer had this exact experience in November of 1999 while being chased by hurricane Lenny for two weeks. There was a time when the nature of hurricanes was unknown and predicting their formation and tracking nothing short of an impossibility. Such was the state of weather forecasting when a massive storm rumbled across the Gulf of Mexico and destroyed Galveston, Texas in September of 1900. The loss of life was estimated as high as 8,000 with an essentially total loss of all physical assets and structures in the city.One Isaac Cline (head of the Weather Service in Galveston) was the central figure in this account. Isaac Cline proved to be an important figure in the development of weather science and he also proved to be self-important. Larson portrays him as being at odds with the early Weather Service bureaucracy which is described as bumbling, inefficient, and politicized. Especially notable is the ego-driven competition between various weather stations. American observers were often contemptuous of the Cuban observers and chose to discount the merits of their observations of a vast storm that headed west from their island and eventually showed up in Galveston to claim infamy. For those that have not had any formal training in aviation, naval science, or meteorology, Larson has done a splendid job of making the science of weather accessible to the lay reader. This proves rather interesting reading and adds much context to the tragic events that occurred in Galveston a century ago. From the perspective of hind sight, Larson has given a haunting description of people going about the ordinariness of daily life, oblivious to the destruction that would soon be upon them. Larson so graphically portrays the powers of a vast storm surge to completely destroy coastal regions. We clearly have not learned from history and continue to build very expensive high population centers along coasts that will eventually be subject to the horrors of huge storm surges. Larson's descriptions of the human experience of a storm surge as it washes ashore and takes away a beloved home and all of one's family members are truly haunting. Larson has done meticulous research to reconstruct the human drama of that fateful day. The human drama adds a real spice to the potentially bland science of meteorology and Larson has come up with a winner. Perhaps Larson's book should be required reading by all people who sit on zoning and planning boards in all coastal counties. Hurricane Floyd (1999) provided a compelling lesson in what could have happened. The largest peace-time evacuation ever minimized the risk to life, however, a minor alteration of its course and thermal dynamics would have resulted in a class-five chain saw going up the east coast and taking out a trillion dollars worth of Americana. Lenny (Nov 99) suggests that we should pay closer attention to the likelihood of larger more frequent hurricanes drawing beads on our highly populated and vulnerable coastal regions. And this would make a magnificent film. Like Titanic, it shows the destructive potential of human-ego and arrogance.
Rating: 
Summary: A breath-taking read
Review: This is an absorbing account of the notorious Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which flattened a large part of the bustling city and inflicted a horrendous toll on its inhabitants. Larson generally succeeds in painting a vivid picture of everyday life at the Texan port while gradually building up a crescendo of tension, drama and horror as the lethal storm gathered momentum and bore down on the unsuspecting city, which, alas, wasn't given any prior warning by the US Weather Bureau owing to incompetence and bureaucratic red-tape. The style of writing here resembles Walter Lord's <A Night to Remember> and quite a large number of characters are involved with lots of interesting details here and there (a good piece of research by the author). However, besides the protagonist Isaac Cline, few appear to be 3-dimensional figures, which may present difficulties to some readers later on when trying to recall which is which, especially when there're lots of scene shifts along the way. Nevertheless, the many ominous and eerie signs of the approach of the Hurricane are spine-chillingly re-told and Larson's narrative leading up to the final catastrophe is natural, well-paced and generally smooth-flowing. Personally, I'd prefer a more detailed and scientific treatment on the part of hurricanes and it would be better if there can be a few photos showing the destruction wreaked by the freak storm, no matter how macabre they might be. Anyway, these are minor reservations and the book does make a breath-taking read. Ultimately, we're once again reminded of the power of mother nature and that no matter how technologically developed we are (or we think we are), we can still be prostrated by the fury of nature in one fateful blow.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, just right for reading to someone.
Review: My wife is a reading teacher and, oddly enough, loves to be read to. This book became one of her favorites and she now plans to read it too her reading students.
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Summary: The terror of raging waters
Review: This is the story of the Galveston flood of 1900, the worst natural disaster in our country's history which took as many as 8,000 lives. Meticulous research went into this book in order to recreate the time, the place, the people and the scientific knowledge at the time. Isaac Cline was an employee of the weather bureau, which is depicted as bumbling, political and inefficient. He is central to the narrative which includes his family as well as his neighbors. I was fascinated by the technical descriptions of the physical wind, water and tides. It taught me something and increased my appreciation for the forces of nature. With the exception of the actions of particular people during the flood itself, I was less impressed with their stories. There were so many people and so many stories that I kept getting them mixed up. Isaac's characterization, however, was more complete, and even though I never felt real empathy towards him, his personality did come across. The descriptions of the carnage, the people who survived, and the many who didn't were very moving. The author captured the terror and the despair in the raging waters choked with debris and corpses. With some great computer graphics and visual effects, this could be an outstanding movie, especially since it is based on fact, not fiction. It has all the right elements, including the hindsight of knowing what happened.
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Summary: A most welcome addition to the 1900 disaster histories.
Review: I have spent many years dedicated to researching and telling the story of the 1889 Johnstown Flood, which killed 2,209. Although aware of the 1900 Galveston disaster, I did not fully appreciate its significance until recently--I give credit to Erik Larsen for that. This book, in many places, brought tears to my eyes. Mr. Larsen has crafted a book that vividly recreates the horrors of the Great Hurricane. As we near the 100th anniversary of the disaster, this book is a testament to the victims and survivors--and it tells their stories superbly, especially the tragic tale of Isaac Cline. There are so many lessons to be learned from this story. I only wish the author and publisher choose to include some photographs and maps in a softcover edition. Also put David McCullough's "The Johnstown Flood" in your shopping cart--a masterpiece of historical writing.
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Summary: Important subject matter, stilted writing...
Review: I hope they make this into a movie. It would be great because we wouldn't have to stumble over the very clumsy prose style. I can't believe how long it took me to read what I believe should have been a book one zips through. I adored the chapters that finally, finally paid attention to the actual storm and the actual victims. That - and the development of the storm itself, visually, that is, not in longitudes and latitudes - would be the crux of a movie version. I will say this: no book has ever made me think "What a bunch of a-hl-s!" like this one did. The administrators of the U.S. Weather Bureau at the turn of the century were the biggest bunch of buffoons ever! The most horrible thing about them: their attitude toward Cuba. A very, very sad story. After I got through a lot of junk that felt like a dry college thesis, I did cry.
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read!
Review: Larson has successfully and finally done what residents who call the Texas coast home have wanted for years-someone to go in-depth on the life of Isaac Cline, a legend in Texas hurricane lore who has been largely overlooked by state historians. With the 100th anniversary coming up this year, this is definitely a must-read. Larson's vivid description and wonderfully-crafted style of writing truly make it hard to put the book down. Larson clearly did tons of research for this book, and it shows in the amount of detail. As a student of climatology in college, I was impressed with how details of weather phenomena surrounding an approaching hurricane were told on a level that is understandable to all. The story of Isaac's life as well as the descriptions of the plight of other individuals-some 8,000 of whom perished on that September evening in 1900-add a personal touch to an otherwise faceless tragedy that remains the United States' worst natural disaster of all time. Great job Mr. Larson!
Rating: 
Summary: Isaac's Storm
Review: Although this book was well written and a fairly concise history of the great hurricane of Galveston Texas, I though something was lacking. I felt that the actual part of the book describing the hurricane itself was a bit far flung and that an inordinate amount of time was spent talking about the details of the weather bureau during that period. Its good, but its not the gripping adventure that I expected from a storm this devastating.
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