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Summary: Tragedy in Boston in 1919.
Review: A wonderful little book about a small tragedy that happened in Boston in 1919. As a result of an above ground tank rupture, 21 people lost their lives and others were premanently crippled. Puleo deserves credit for bringing this tragedy to light. He does a good job of explaining why the tank was located in the poorest, most densely populated portion of Boston, how the tank was put together slap dash, how signs indicated the coming collaspe of the tank, and finally the rupture and the resulting court battle. The author even includes the attitudes of the largely Italian neighborhood and the execution of the Italian anarchists at the end of the book. The final summary is a large corporation put the people of this neighborhood at risk for a gain in the war profits from industrial alcohol.
This is a good read. Puleo puts a lot of interesting information into this book and it makes compelling reading.
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Summary: A compelling history and so much more
Review: As a Massachusetts native, I was naturally drawn to this book, having heard vague references over the years to "spilled" molasses in Boston, but not many factual details about this bizarre disaster. But Dark Tide is a story - and I emphasize the word story - that offers so much more. If you're looking for a dry history lesson, look elsewhere. Like any great story, it brings its characters to life. I challenge you to read Dark Tide and not feel compelled to find out what happens to Guiseppe Iantosca's young son and daughter, who liked to play around the doomed molasses tank, or Martin Clougherty, who lived in the shadow of the tank but was on the verge of moving his family to a better life in the suburbs, or firefighter George Layhe, who thought January 15 would be just another day on the job. Of course, Dark Tide has its less-than-lovable characters too, and you'll be drawn to all the ordinary people whose lives were profoundly changed on a balmy January day in 1919. For a story that takes place more than 84 years ago, it offers themes that could be "ripped from today's headlines" - corporate irresponsibility, regulations to ensure public safety, heroic firefighters, and the threat of terrorism. And the courtroom drama in Part Three will leave you hungry for more information on these fascinating characters, in particular, the cross examination of Dark Tide's "bad guys." Read Dark Tide - not because you're a Massachusetts native or a history buff, but because you like a great story.
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Summary: "the product of world conditions"
Review: Dark Tide by Stephen Puleo details the molasses flood that devastated the Commercial Street area in Boston on January 15, 1919. A fifty-foot tall steel tank owned by United States Industrial Alcohol Company (USIA) collapsed and unleashed 2.3 million gallons of molasses on the congested waterfront district in a fifteen-foot-high wave moving as fast as thirty-five miles per hour. Incredible structural damage resulted as well as over one hundred injuries and a score of deaths. I had never heard of this tragedy until I ran across this book as an Amazon.com recommendation. It seems odd to me that this event is not more widely known due to its unusual nature. Puleo explains that it was considered an "isolated event not connected with larger trends in American history" (x). The author sets out to make these connections throughout his book. The story of January 15, 1919 and its aftermath is interwoven with the most important headlines of the day.
Puleo expertly connects the molasses flood to the Great War (the USIA was distilling molasses for industrial alcohol used in munitions production), anarchism and the Red Scare (the tank was built in a southern Italian district), Prohibition, and the pro-Big Business administrations of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. The author also demonstrates, mostly through the deposition of the USIA assistant treasurer responsible for the tank's construction, the unbelievably rushed and careless manner in which the tank was built. It leaked profusely from the outset. Workers near the tank, even the children in the community, noticed the leaks but the company responded only by occasionally re-caulking the plates and rivets and painting the tank molasses color to make the leaks less noticeable.
A moving account of the human suffering resulting from the bursting tank follows as well as a detailed look at the long trial and the verdicts and damages awarded. The author shows a lot of respect for Judge Ogden and, unfortunately, gives away the verdict in a caption under his photo before the section on the trial. The defense's argument was that the tank was exploded by anarchists (the trial coincided with incidents of anarchist violence as well as the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti). Puleo ends with the direct short-term and long-term effects of the Boston molasses flood. His view that the verdict marked a change in America's attitude towards Big Business; a trend that led to the election of Franklin Roosevelt, seemed a stretch, but the other more local ramifications were important and makes one wonder further why this tragedy is not more well-known. A list of the deceased, biographical essay, and index are included as well as a few photos (mostly taken on the scene of the flood's destructive wake).
My biggest criticism is that Puleo often describes what is going on in the minds of the people involved which, for a historical book, is always a dicey thing to do. He does not follow-up on Isaac Gonzales. He is introduced right at the beginning as the "general man" of the Boston tank that was haunted by fear that the leaking tank would explode. He finally had to leave his job and move to Ohio. He apparently gave testimony at the trial, but Puleo offers no excerpts from it, nor is there any word on Gonzales' reaction when finding out his greatest fear became reality. Gonzales was not listed among those on which Puleo followed-up (no fault of the author's if no information was available) but it would have been nice to read a post-flood statement from Gonzales and have the book go full circle. Despite these minor complaints, Dark Tide is a clearly written, thorough account of a little known tragedy that has more connection to the historical fabric of the country than a lot of tragedies that have gone on into legend.
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Summary: An Event in Historical Perspective
Review: Dark Tide does a wonderful job of placing the molasses flood in its proper historical perspective. No historical event is fully understood until it is seen against the backdrop of its context, and Steven Puleo does a great job of telling the reader about the munitions business during WWI as well as the anarchist scare of the time period. From relating the personal accounts of victims to profiling the personalities of the judge and attorneys involved int he case, this book is detailed enough for the armchair historian yet written well enough for the casually interested reader.
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Summary: A brief look at Boston History
Review: Growing up in Boston, I would hear the story about the Great Molasses Flood from my Italian Grandmother who lived in the North End at the time the flood occured. Steven Puleo pulls together the story of the tank, the flood and the aftermath. He weaves the story together with the history of the company who constructed the tank and the socio-political history of the early Twentieth Century. This book, written in a style that is easily accessible to everyone, is especially interesting to anyone who is interested in history.
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Summary: Engrossing account of a most improbable tragedy
Review: Having lived less than 50 miles from Boston all of my life, I was startled to pick up this book and learn about the tragic events of January 15, 1919. I had never ever heard about this!!! Stephen Puleo has done a terrific job of reconstructing the events that led up to the collapse of the 50 foot high steel tank that held over two million gallons of all things--molasses. When the dust had cleared 21 people lost their lives and scores more were injured. The entire waterfront area adjacent to the tank was levelled. A portion of the nearby overhead rail had collapsed. Hundreds of family pets and dozens of police horses were lost. Lives were changed forever. We learn about the suffering of many of the victims in these pages. Some of the descriptions of what happened that day are unimaginable.
Puleo paints a fascinating portrait of life in Boston in the late teens and early 1920's and details a number of the events that led up to this grim piece of Boston history. He gives a history of the owner of the tank, the U.S. Industrial Alcohol Co. You will most certainly not be impressed by the way this outfit conducted itself both in the years leading up to the tragedy and in the investigations and inquiry that followed. I was interested to learn of the long history of the molasses trade in the Boston area. And of course when blame for the tragedy was being assigned many pointed their fingers at radical Italian anarchists. Was there any truth in these accusations or were some just holding them up as convenient "patsies"? When you stop and think about what happened on that frigid January day, just imagine what might have happened if the tank had collapsed on a summer day? Imagine the additional health problems that would have been posed by insects and rodents at that time of the year.
Finally, Stephen Puleo devotes several chapters to the legal inquiry into this tragedy and to the three principal players. Prominent Boston attorney Charles Choate was engaged as defense lawyer for U.S. Industrial Alcohol. Damon Hall presented the case for the plaintiffs. And decorated World War I veteran Hugh Ogden was appointed by the Court to oversee the civil lawsuit. See how the six weeks he expected to devote to this case turned into over three years!!! I found this one very hard to put down. Highly recommended!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was simply disappointed. This is the first book about the molasses flood, and instead of telling what happened and why the author seems to put thoughts into the participants heads, and makes all kinds of maudlin announcements. David and Goliath. Yer breakin' my heart. There is no attempt to understand what happened technically. There are some silly false pronouncements which any 2nd year engineering student could have corrected. It is good to give the social and political background but the author seems to have consulted with everyone except those who could have explained what happened technically. Good guys and bad guys that's what the book is about. But reading the previous reviewers that is apparently what some people seem to want. Sad. And the author seems to find a need for a hero - Colonel Hugh W. Ogden - fighting the forces of evil. And he was a war hero - he won the war in Europe for America - as a lawyer. Gimme a break. Why did it take Ogden 18 months after final testimony to write a report? Silence. Did he get paid for his 5 years of time interupted by many trips to Europe while all those poor slobs waited for some kind of compensation. Not a word. What really happened? That is what such a book should try to determine.
Rating: 
Summary: Not especially engaging
Review: Overall, the book was entertaining and seemingly well researched (although I think some of the historic information relied a little too heavily on just a few sources). After reading it once, though, I will never read this book again (I don't want to be reminded of this stuff!)
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Summary: Puleo brings order from a disaster
Review: Simply a wonderful book. Growing up in Massachusetts, urban legend held that on a hot August day, one can still smell the molasses. Stephen Puleo brings that urban legend to life.The best performers always make it look easy. It reads clean, energetic, scary and a hundred other positive adjectives. The description of how many ways Puleo measured the tonnage and energy of the molasses was frightening. I read it to my wife out loud. Puleo's vivid description of the moments of the actual molasses tank failure and flood, using multiple points of view, makes your palms sweaty. I don't even have a favorite part. I like it all. The event is compelling but the following litigation was pretty interesting and well explained. Quotes from the testimony were perfectly placed in context and content. The civil hearings judge, Mr. Ogden, was quite a guy. I see definite movie story lines. Boston Fire Department photos are well placed and provide a sad verisimilitude to the post flood physical devastation. This books takes a footnote of Boston history and brings life, energy and death to the readers. The readers will care for the victims. Technically, very well written. As for style, one almost forgets this is a history and not a gripping work of fiction. This book was most excellently done.
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Summary: Death by Molasses
Review: Syrupy, sweet, sticky molasses have long been a favorite treat in America. Actually they were more than a treat because for many years molasses were America's primary sweetener. They also were the base ingredient for rum, America's primary beverage in colonial times. It was in fact a tax on molasses that first aroused colonial ire against Parliament. Molasses were also irrevocably associated with Boston because of the famous triangle trade of molasses, rum and slaves. It was no accident then that United States Industrial Alcohol had a distillery near Boston and therefore decided to build a huge molasses storage tank near Boston harbor.
Stephen Puleo has done a masterful job in this book of telling the story of this storage tank; it's construction, use, disintegration and the aftermath. This is a story not just of a disaster but of the social tensions of that era and the callous disregard for human life displayed by big industry in search of war profits. Puelo however, has also managed to make this the story of the victims of this tragedy. The story is riveting in itself but the author's ability to give a human face to the disaster makes this book not only an interesting read but a touching one as well.
United States Industrial Alcohol (USIA) used molasses to make it's product and that industrial alcohol was in turn used by companies like DuPont to make smokeless gunpowder and high explosives for artillery shells. World War I had greatly increased the demand for industrial alcohol and as USIA increased it's production they decided that they needed this molasses storage tank. As Puleo tells his readers about the construction of the tank he begins to introduce his audience to some of the people who lived and worked near by. The reader will see the tank placed in a very congested area and the author will explain why it ended up there. He will also show how construction was rushed, poorly tested and never inspected. Basically it was a disaster waiting to happen.
When the inevitable did happen and the tank collapsed 2.3 million gallons of molasses surged out in a wave 35 feet high. It is hard to imagine the horror of drowning in molasses but that is exactly what happened to some people while others were crushed in obliterated buildings. Puleo gives us not only the stories of surviving family members as they searched for their loved ones buy also many amazing stories of survival as described by those who were badly injured but survived. The anguish, fear and desperation felt by these people as they struggled to survive is related here with as much feeling and drama as will be found in any novel. The court case that followed is also told in a wonderfully readable way, which is not an easy task when dealing with often-tedious legal arguments. The case against USIA ended up setting a precedent that from then on would force large companies to take responsibility for their actions and for this reason alone this is an important event in American history.
Mr. Puleo has brought us the story of this important event and has done so in a very enjoyable book. His descriptive abilities are strong and his writing style captivating. Pictures of the scene of destruction only add to the drama. The molasses flood of 1919 is seldom remembered today but it is an important event in American history. Maybe this book will help to restore this event to it's proper place in the public mind.
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