Rating: 
Summary: Cost-Cutting is not necessarily Cost Effective
Review: The molasses tank built in Boston in 1914 in haste and with much "Cost-Cutting" during a military build up only lasted 5 years before blowing molasses all over the water front area of North End Boston. Lives were lost, lives were ruined, property was destroyed. Interesting that the event itself seems to be pretty much ignored in history but the effects of the event are felt every time someone applies to build a commercial structure.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Powerful Lesson in "Haste Makes Waste"
Review: This book is a must-read for those who love the socio-political machinations of our country in its early industrialized days.Stephen Puleo's non-fiction effort is truly a masterful history lesson wrapped up in a powerful story about greed, arrogance, fear, and just plain stpidity. Puleo weaves a tale around the construction and collapse of a 2.2 million-gallon molasses storage tank resulting in the Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. Dark Tide is a detailed look back at the time of WWI, what life was like in Boston, and the part played by both immigrants and anarchists alike. The early 20th Century comes alive as Puleio describes the U.S participation in the war effort, the part played by industrial alcohol, and the need to build a huge storage tank right under the noses of the unsuspecting and unempowered people living in Boston's North End. Not only do we learn the history of this period, but we personally experience the harrowing moments leading up to and during the actual molasses flood. People like Arthur P. Jell, Isaac Gonzales, and families like the Cloughertys, Iantoscas and Distasios come alive and virtually leap off the pages of this sad and sordid tale, with some Sacco and Vanzetti thrown in to the mix. The last part of the book describes the extremely lenghty court case overseen by the Honorable Judge Hugh Ogden. Ten years after the tank's construction, the legal wrangling was settled but the molasses forever stained the streets, wharves, neighborhoods and history of one of the most storied places in our nation. Don't miss Dark Tide!!
Rating:
Summary: W-O-W!!!
Review: This book is SWEET!!!! It prompted me to build a miniature molasses tank in my backyard. The reinactment didn't go so well though. Suprising! I used to love molasses as a kid strictly for the taste of it, but this book made me see it in an entirely different light. I will never take molasses for granted again!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome - a pleasant surprise!
Review: This book was easy to read and very, very compelling. Until I picked this book up, I'd never heard of the Great Boston Molasses Flood, which is odd, because it's one of the most eerie and fascinating disasters to occur in the 20th Century. Even though you know what's going to happen with the molasses tank, the suspense is dreadful and nightmarish. The author did a wonderful job in bringing all of the strange events and principal characters to vivid life and treating the tragedy with pathos and respect. A nail-biter! Would make a great movie!
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