Rating: 
Summary: Breakers of the heart
Review: It is hard to explain the shear power of water and wind unless you have experienced it. This book is amazing with the descriptions, both scientific and emotional, of the human event of attempting to survive the storm. What is truly powerful is the heartache that was not written into the book. It didn't need to be. There are moments in the book where nothing is written and you are left to think. Those are the moments you look up from the book, stare out into the space in front of you, and you wonder if you would have done the same thing. I found my heart at a lost. I felt the grief. The book didn't describe it, but led you to it. What dumbfounded myself when I finished the book was that I chose to read it for purely scientific reasons and I found I read a real human drama. An excellent piece of work that will reach the hearts of all who read it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I bought this book as a Christmas gift for my son. When it arrived, I glanced at the first page and the next thing I knew I was on page 35! A non-fiction tale written as a novel. Fascinating look at people going about their business not knowing a tragedy is about to hit. Even the scientific details about how a hurricane develops were interesting. Loved the political infighting going on at the Weather Bureau. The aftermaths of the storm were particularly moving. Anyone who lives near the ocean should read this book. Hurricanes should never be underestimated.
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Summary: Do we never learn?
Review: Category 4, category 5--doesn't matter. It wasn't the wind that killed folks, but the storm surge, something the categories don't measure. The fact is the 1900 Galveston hurricane killed more folks in the U.S. than any other hurricane recorded. Why? Because of many reasons, fairly well described in this bookMy only complaint is that it cries out for photographs, which were readily available, so why didn't the author get permission to include them? Once you get past some of the more technical meterological details, it's a riveting story. And we still continue to build and increase population in susceptable regions. The Galveston disaster will happen again, because we just can't learn from our previous mistakes. Read this book. It's definitely a keeper, and a real thought provoker.
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Summary: This book "blew me away"
Review: I loved this book. It has 3 main story streams--the human interest stories about the people, the political story about the Weather Bureau and the meterological story about the weather. All 3 were very interesting. The author does a great job of reconstructing life at the start of the century, particularly the idea that life could be controlled once science revealed the "laws" behind natural (as well as human) phenomena. I had a really hard time putting this down.
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Summary: I Loved It
Review: I've been a meteorologist for 20 years. Trained by Dr Bill Gray, I've walked in the eye of three hurricanes and flown in they eye of one. One recent book interest has been adventure stories including THE PERFECT STORM, INTO THIN AIR, ENDURANCE, etc. I had shyed away from ISSAC'S STORM because I couldn't imagine what Larson could tell me I didn't already know about the 1900 disaster at Galveston. I shouldn't have waited. Even the most seasoned weather geek will learn from this book. Like Carl Sagan, Larson has a knack for putting complex concepts in layman terms. I took away new simple descriptions of tropical meteorological concepts. However, that is not the genius of this book. Erik Larson did a wonderful job piecing together thousands of bits of information and crafting it all into a gripping read. What's missing? Photographs. Like SHIP OF GOLD IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA, this book is screaming for a companion book of photos. Eric said he waded through over 4,000; 250 of the best would make a super addition to this treatise. Rick Taylor, vorticity@aol.com
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Summary: A compelling tale of an already well-researched hurricane
Review: When I heard this book was coming out, I was surprised that people didn't already know the tale of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900...the greatest 19th century disaster in the U.S.. However, this book surprised me by going into the early career of Isaac Cline, and his family. However, it seems to fault Cline with a lack of understanding. If he had known anything about the storms of 1886 and 1875, it wouldn't have mattered. His boss had him strong-armed... nothing more could have been done. A good thing this doesn't happen in the National Weather Service anymore. The story was told well, but it's been told many times before. It lacked maps, charts, and pictures from the time - trust me, there are many pictures, map, etcetera from the 1900 hurricane around, whether they be in Galveston or elsewhere. In fact, Thomas Edison took his first moving film footage from the aftermath of this storm. If the author had even visited the Library of Congress or National Archives, he would have done a better job. Otherwise, the prose does a good job of balancing the meteorology of the situation with the everyday life of an emerging large city. The personal stories are a nice touch. This story could have been a tough read if it were all weather. If you want to catch up on Isaac Cline, read Rising Tide, by John Barry. If he had any fault in the 1900 disaster, it was more than erased by his future actions, including those during the Mississippi River Crevasse of 1927. He also preformed bravely during the 1915 hurricane as well.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic work
Review: Thumbs up to the author for this work. I enjoyed the way the material was presented. The metaphors and descriptive passages truly enlivened the read. This is a good companion novel to The Perfect Storm. Whereas that book was interesting in a contemporary sense, this book reveals a moment in American history that is often overlooked. The author successfully captures the spirit of America, when unbridled hubris prevented us from avoiding our own man-made disasters (Johnstown Flood, Titanic, etc.)
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Summary: STUNNING!
Review: This book was stunning. Not only was it an eye-gluer, it was very informative and told of the Galveston Hurricane very well. I was astounded to learn about people's confidence in taming mother nature before the storm struck, and what prospects it actually had of becoming the "New York" of the Gulf. Erik Larson also gave a lot of accounts of people, and how the storm affected them individually. A very spellbinging and moving book. I would urge everyone to read it.
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Summary: A Page Turner!
Review: Great book! The suspense builds, even though you know what is about to happen. A fine study, almost minute by minute, of human error and tragedy. The last half is almost impossible to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: Carefully researched, but disappointing
Review: The author is so intent in telling human interest stories that it doesn't seem to reflect the interesting research done by the author very well. I kept thinking of The Perfect Storm, which I read Nov. 16, 1997-- a far better book. The author here is too anxious to interest the non-history-addicted reader, so that this book, while easy to read, is not too memorable
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