Dark Tide. The Great Boston Molasses Flood of Author: Stephen Puleo. Description; Praise and Reviews; On Our Blog; Video; Reader. Around noon on January 15, , a group of firefighters was playing cards in Boston’s North End when they heard a tremendous crash. It was like roaring. A new th anniversary edition of the only adult book on one of the odder disasters in US history–and the greed, disregard for poor immigrants, and lack.

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This book is so well researched and I’m glad to know the story. First, as a history this is really flawed. I don’t know why I haven’t come up with anything; I enjoyed it quite a bit, and if it’s not still as fresh in my memory as it was the day I finished, I still remember a good deal of it, more than usual when it comes to straight history books.

When officials complete rescue operations, and when they assess damages, they discover that the Great Boston Molasses Flood has killed more than 20 people and scores of animals, has injured other people, and has left mind-boggling destruction in its wide wake.

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Share your thoughts with other customers. On this particular morning a ship loaded with molasses had come up from Puerto Rico following the Gulf Stream and unloaded over a million gallons of warm molasses into the cold molasses.

Properly and compellingly recasts quaint folklore as a tragedy with important ramifications. Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. The structure is completely effective and a perfect way to show readers the importance of what happened on one January pulel in Just as in another of his Like the vast majority of the American public, I had only heard faint reports of this event in the early 20th Century, and most of the time what it sounded like was some kind of urban legend.

DARK TIDE by Stephen Puleo | Kirkus Reviews

Puleo’s background as a journalist also contributes to the success of this stepehn, as he shares slices of life with details down to the smells and sounds that bring his characters to life. Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web.

Terror gripped him as he imagined a fat, hungry, gray water rat chewing at his face while he lay helpless, trapped in the blackness, buried alive. Certainly not as much as this book deserves.

The top of the tank can be seen in the top quarter-center of the photo, just below the white building on the harbor. The highest, especially for history trivia mavens. There were many deaths and loss of homes from the 45 foot tall wave of thick brown molasses and its ensuing flow through homes and streets.

By leaving readers in the dark about this for two-thirds of the book, Puleo treats the story as a mystery or historical thriller instead of the straight-up history it should be. Photo courtesy of Bill Noonan, Boston Fire Department Archives Sailors at bottom left from the USS Nantucket, which was in port when the flood occurred, aided in the rescue efforts as crews cleared tons of debris to reach trapped victims.

Puleo’s words carefully draw out the dramatic tension for dozens of pages, surely intending to keep the reader guessing as to which way the judgment will go, but because of this stupid caption at the beginning of the third act, Puleo’s careful efforts are for naught.

More Italian immigrants became citizens, claiming some power for themselves. It was worth telling, and I’m glad somebody supported by a host of others took up the challenge and carried it, so successfully, to the end. This landscape photo, taken from atop a nearby building, shows the massive damage caused by the molasses wave. How much did you know about these topics?

I don’t like it, but he keeps it mostly under control. Be the first to discover new talent! Open Preview See a Problem?

This story is so well told — the lead up to the explosion, the catastrophe itself and the aftermath that it reads like novel. In addition, he focuses on the evil conspirators of the entire incident, the vark dedicated to their quest for money and power and the unwitting spineless co-conspirators.

Heavy Load Part Two: Hugh Ambrose and John Schuttler. Nov 30, Timons Esaias rated it really liked it. There’s a touching extra afterword in my edition that shares some of these family encounters, including an eyewitness account in a family letter.

Dark Tide book by Stephen Puleo reviewed by Jonathan Sherman-Presser | Yale Review of Books

The reader most likely will as well. ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics. Jul 13, Newport Librarians rated it liked it Shelves: The most striking aspect of this tale is the timeliness of the topics it touches on. He would soon join two of his children who had perished from influenza last fall.

Feb 28, Victoria rated it it was amazing Shelves: The Great Boston Molasses Flood claimed the lives of twenty-one people and scores of animals, injured more than a hundred, and caused widespread destruction. Martin Clougherty, who worked the night shift, was asleep when the molasses demolished his house.

Stephen Puleo brings it to life with vivid prose, using the dreadful catastrophe as a lens through which to view the panorama of a changing Boston, as well as to survey the major events that would shape the future of twentieth-century America.

Dark Tide book by Stephen Puleo reviewed by Jonathan Sherman-Presser

But it actually happened. Not only does this book describe one of the most bizarre disasters that occurred, the failure of a hugh tank holding over 2 million gallons of molasses, but it gives a view of Boston and the USA prior to our entry into WWI.

Discover Prime Book Box for Kids. It also made me wish I knew all history, every single interesting event that ever happened.

In the ensuing court battle, Big Business was put on notice that it would not be trusted to police construction safety standards itself, it was not above the law, and it would be liable for damages. I was fascinated with this stephfn information and thought the author did a phenomenal job with setting the stage and tying together so many different aspects of the story.

It is told in living color. Amazon Rapids Fun stories for kids on the go. The bizarreness of the disaster and the sheer enormity of the trial, however, are the only gripping phleo of the book.