American Disasters: 201 Calamities That Shook the Nation

I thought this was going to be about major man-made episodes of disaster in American history.The book highlights all the unique malady events that help make the nation stronger.In most cases,new rules or new regulations were enacted to prevent another similiar tragedy from occurring again.Not all accidents were human error,yet imposed upon people by the forces of Nature.Most stories focus on the folly of mankind's hubris concerning the safety of our massive inventions and the loose grasp of man's quest to fetter the vast strength of Nature.Most of the disasters involved 'Greed'.That is true.Yet,it's 'Greed' that also propells new inventors toward safer inventions for public use.The book investigates both the widely known and the lesser forgotten calamities ,throughout American history.Many may want to forget about the horrific chapters in U.S.history.Yet,by turning a blind-eye to the dark pages of yesterday,we may encounter unforeseen nightmares of tomorrow,that can be prevent today.

"American Disasters" takes a fairly broad view of what constitutes a disaster. The 201 essays written by a range of contributors cover major disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, but also address events like the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and the Black Sox Baseball Scandal. The introduction suggests that the book is really about both disasters and "crises" that, for one reason or another, have molded America's national character. (One suspects that there might have been a tustle between editor and title writers over exactly what the book was going to be called--"American Disasters and Crises" might have been a bit more accurate.) In any case, "American Disasters" consists of a series of well-written essays, each exploring a single event in just a few pages. Each essay is accompanied by a "factbox" that summarizes the significance of the event and its impact. The book includes a thorough bibiliography, a chronological table of contents, and a topical table of contents. Each chapter ends with suggestions for further reading about the disaster or crisis being discussed. "American Disasters" can be used as a reference work or as a cover-to-cover read. I especially liked the way the chapter authors stress the impact of each event--how it resulted in changes in policy, regulation or scientific understanding--rather than just dwelling on the horror of the event itself. Of course, one can quibble about what is included in the book, as well as about what isn't. Hurrican Camille, for example, is conspicuously missing. And not surprisingly, given the title, the book focuses on uniquely American disasters--events with an international dimension, like the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, the AIDS epidemic, and the sinking of the Titanic, are examined only insofar as they affect American history. That said, "American Disasters" is a thorough exposition of the topic, and it deserves a place on the shelf of any student of American history.