Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

It all started quietly on September 8, 1900, in the Texas beach resort of Galveston. The odd winds and weird deep-sea waves that greeted the city that morning bewildered even local meteorologist Isaac Cline of the U.S. Weather Bureau. A few hours later, the town of Galveston was entirely devastated by a massive storm that claimed over 6,000 lives, making it the worst natural catastrophe in American history. Meanwhile, Isaac Cline suffered a terrible personal tragedy.

Erik Larson crafts a story of one man's valiant battle and deadly error in the face of an unfathomably powerful storm using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimonies of other survivors, and our most recent knowledge of the physics of storms. Isaac's Storm is a gripping, intense, and excruciatingly frightening tale of what might happen when human conceit collides with the immense, uncontrolled force of nature.