Johnstown Flood
May 2007 · Simon and Schuster
4,5star
39 reviewsreport
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304
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About this eBook
The stunning story of one of America’s great disasters, a preventable tragedy of Gilded Age America, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation’s burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, and killing more than 2,000 people. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal.
Graced by David McCullough’s remarkable gift for writing richly textured, sympathetic social history, The Johnstown Flood is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in nineteenth-century America, of overweening confidence, of energy, and of tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation’s burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, and killing more than 2,000 people. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal.
Graced by David McCullough’s remarkable gift for writing richly textured, sympathetic social history, The Johnstown Flood is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in nineteenth-century America, of overweening confidence, of energy, and of tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly.
Ratings and reviews
4,5
39 reviews
A Google user
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04 December 2009
David McCullough is one of America's great historical writers. He is not a trained historian, and because of that, his writing style can be understood by all readers. Johnstown, Pennsylvania was the scene of a great manmade tragedy in the late nineteenth century, and Mr. McCullough details this terrible event very well. This was his first book. I would recommend any of his other books to anyone who wants to learn about historical events without alot of scholary jargon that comes from authors from the world of academia. My personal favorites are Truman and the Great Bridge, but you can't go wrong with anything he has written. I look forward to his next book about Americans living in Paris in the late nineteenth and twentieth century which should come out in a year or so. All of his books are available in paperback, so I recommend his work highly.
william gent
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14 March 2018
There is no better historical writer than Mr . Collough . He has that magic that all great story tellers have in that YOU WANT to keep reading . He keeps you engaged and entertained so that you are compelled to turn page after page after page !
2 people found this review helpful
Bobby Logue
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20 March 2015
it gav me chillz. .. th suspense made me read faster. ... I LOVED IT. n i drove out to th museum. itz 3D
3 people found this review helpful
About the author
David McCullough (1933–2022) twice received the Pulitzer Prize, for Truman and John Adams, and twice received the National Book Award, for The Path Between the Seas and Mornings on Horseback. His other acclaimed books include The Johnstown Flood, The Great Bridge, Brave Companions, 1776, The Greater Journey, The American Spirit, The Wright Brothers, and The Pioneers. He was the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. Visit DavidMcCullough.com.
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