Rating: 
Summary: Where's John McPhee when you need him?
Review: This book is quintessential latter-day nonfiction -- a blend of indiscriminate facts and melodramatic conjecture. I don't quite know what's worse, Mr. Larson's native gift for organizational incoherence or his impeccably tin ear. Ugh! What a dreary mess. Read the phone book instead.
Rating: 
Summary: It seems like a Cut & Paste Job of other books.
Review: Having done heavy research on this hurricane for many years, I have plenty of questions about the makeup of this book. I live in Galveston County and Isaac Cline is considered a Texas Hero here, not a scapegoat. I have read most, if not all of Mr. Larson's sources and it seems 99% of the book is from the the following earlier published books:"TROPICAL CYCLONES", and "STORMS FLOODS AND SUNSHINE" written by Dr. Isaac Cline; "WHEN THE HEAVENS FROWNED" by his brother, Dr. Joseph Cline; "A WEEKEND IN SEPTEMBER" by Edward Weems; and "GALVESTON IN 1900" by Clarence Ousley. His knowledge of meteorology is weak and it shows by the many mistakes in his writing on this hurricane. When confronted about his claim that this hurricane was a category 5, he quoted a sea captain's claim that he battled 150 MPH winds at sea while hanging on like a flag. Ha Ha! Was his name Popeye? True experts on hurricanes such as Dr. Neil Frank tried to sway his opinion at a gathering here in Galveston, but he wouldn't budge. His view that this was the worst category of hurricane that could hit Galveston is way off base. Believe me, he is wrong about that. I guess my final question is how long did he take to write this book? The book was a good read, but after researching this hurricane for so many years and consulting for other media, I feel that a better book on this storm was Mr. Weems', "A WEEKEND IN SEPTEMBER", now that!, would be a great movie indeed. On his portrayal of the Weather Bureau and the brotherhood of the Cline brothers, it is in deed easy to be a 'Monday Morning Quarterback' from the 21st Century. Again, I feel he is not taking in consideration of the a time and a society over 100 years ago. This was a much more formal time in society and goverment. Contact your local rare book dealer for copies of all of the books I quoted. The Weems book is still on the shelves and the latest edition is published by the Texas A&M Press.
Rating: 
Summary: Grandfather of Floyd
Review: I happened to order this book just before Floyd started working it's way up the East Coast and found it fascinating to compare these two storms almost one hundred years apart but nearly equal in size and strength. The first 80 pages or so are a little bogged down with technicalities of weather and hurricanes. But the human stories and the insight into the mindset of the times make for great reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling account of nature's power and humans' folly
Review: Larson has given us a suspenseful, riveting, and, most of all, human account of a relatively little-known tragedy of American history. The author's prose is masterful, particularly when he concentrates on the intimate stories of ordinary people suddenly and surprisingly engulfed by nature's fury. I accidentally bumped into this book at my local bookstore, and read all the way 'til closing time, unable to tear myself away. I would actually give this book four and a half stars were it possible. My only reservations are the inadequate maps [one showing the storm's track from Africa through Galveston, and subsequently back to the Atlantic via Newfoundland; the other a rather crude, though illustrative plan of Galveston's downtown area], and the complete lack of photographs to accompany the text -- made all the more frustrating by the author's continual detailed reference to the hundreds of photographs taken after the tragedy. What is needful now is a pictorial history to accompany Larson's work, preferrably compiling pre- and post-storm photos of the city. Any takers?
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, detailed book. A must read.
Review: The author goes to great pains to recreate an accurate picture of life in Galveston, circa 1900. Then he promptly shows the city being virtually destroyed by the hurricane. The background information concerning hurricanes, the Weather Bureau, and the impact of hurricanes on the Age of Discovery is also fascinating. On par with "The Perfect Storm", if not better.
Rating: 
Summary: good narrative, but questions arise....
Review: There are a lot of storm books out now. By far the best one by far, though, is not this one but John Barry's fairly recent Rising Tide: The Great Missisippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, a book that has as gripping a narrative as tbhis one, or Perfect Storm, or any of the others, but goes far deeper into science, politics, its characters, and society than any of the others, and also addresses larger issues. In fact I read Isaac's Storm only because the main character in it, Isaac Cline, is a minor character in Rising Tide and I was curious about him. Unfortunately, the 2 views of the man don't quite jibe. Granted, the 2 situations are different and 27 years apart, but people's characters and abilities don't change much. Personally, I'd trust Barry's presentation of Cline-- in relatively few pages-- more than Larson's. Since Cline lies at the center of Larson's book, my inability to trust the author entirely kept me from letting myself made me question Larson from the beginning. You should check out Rising Tide, a phenomenal book. If you compare both, I think you'll agree that it far surpasses this one.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Prose, Compelling Story
Review: I read the review of this book in a recent issue of "Time" and could not wait to read it! It was money well spent and has a permanent place in my book collection. The tension builds from page one. I also liked the history of other hurricanes from Columbus' day on that is interspersed with the story of the Galveston Hurricane. I only wish Larson had included more photos and especially wanted to see the photo of Issac Cline in its entirety, not just on the cover of the book. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: Galveston Hurricane Website
Review: Nature's wrath and human drama - fascinating history. I learned about this book while visiting the website 1900storm.com - where there are photos of Galveston after the storm.
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Summary: Spielberg take note!
Review: Make this book into a movie! I sat down with this book in the middle of a storm and thought that I would be too distracted by the wind and rain to concentrate on a work of nonfiction. When the random option on the CD hit the soundtrack for the Titanic just as the storm started hitting Galveston, I knew I was in for a long night. I read it straight through, and spent the morning drive to work blocking out the scenes for a movie. To realize that not only were thousands of lives lost, but that an entire city's future was derailed by Mother Nature's wrath is heartwrenching. The pacing of this book is perfect. The long, drawn-out development of the storm in tandem with the descriptions of a city and population looking forward to a golden future was masterful. Photos would have been nice, but sometimes the imagination is so much better. Hollywood, please tell this story!
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at a remarkable bit of Texas history
Review: I grew up hearing tales of this storm, as my grandparents lived through it. Larson's fascinating account of the impending disaster that changed the future of Galveston forever contained many of the elements I heard in my grandparents' stories. I still have the barometer my grandfather watched throughout the storm. I knew much of the story already, but Larson flushed out details I had never heard and brought the experience to life in a frighteningly realistic way. Let's hope Steven Spielberg doesn't get his hands on it!
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