The Great Hurricane: 1938

The Great Hurricane: 1938
by Cherie Burns

The Great Hurricane: 1938
List Price: $13.00
Our Price: $6.87
You Save: $6.13 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.24 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Cherie Burns
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-06-05
ISBN: 0802142540
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Grove Press

Book Reviews of The Great Hurricane: 1938

Book Review: The 9-21 Disaster
Summary: 4 Stars

On Wednesday September 21, 1938 the Great Hurricane hit eastern Long Island, Providence, and the New England states. Fishing fleets were destroyed along with houses and 700 people. The tide was high under a full moon. Fifty-foot waves hit the shore so hard that it registered on a seismograph in Alaska. Cherie Burns reconstructed this even from newspaper reports, survivor testimony, and archival sources. Is such a disaster possible again? Yes, but weather forecasting should give a warning (p.6). A mature hurricane is the most powerful event on earth. But GH38 seems to have been censored from memories (p.3). It was the strongest and most destructive storm to ever hit New England. The 15 chapters tell the story of the people who experienced this natural disaster. There is an Index but no Table of Contents. "GH38's loss of lives and property damage total exceeded San Francisco's earthquake and fire of 1906 and Chicago's fire of 1871" (p.212).

The Great Depression affected people's lives with wide-spread unemployment. New England textile mills suffered from competition in the South. Chapter 2 describes the times. [I think that "Yankee trait" (p.19) of restraint and lack of ostentation goes back a few centuries to the Puritans.] Watching storms was a pleasurable pastime (p.21). Accurate predictions can reduce the loss of life (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 and 5 tell of people's lives at that time. The Great Gale of 1815 destroyed every tree on Napatree Point (p.46). Some heeded the signs of bad weather (pp.48-49). A red sky in the morning is a warning. There had been only two major hurricanes during 300 years (p.54). High winds announced the arrival of the storm (p.57). GH38 struck eastern Long Island at 3PM then swiftly moved to hit the mainland. The rainfall measured 10 to 17 inches over the next several hours (Chapter 8). This super tropical storm quickly intensified (p.75). The storm surge of sea water killed most people (p.76).

Chapter 9 tells of people's activities during the high water and winds. So does Chapters 10 through 12. Chapter 13 describes the flood and destruction that hit Providence. Downed power and telephone lines isolated people. Flood waters spread everywhere, like a menace in a horror-film (p.163). Fallen trees blocked roads and sidewalks, flying debris caused injuries. The fire in New London Connecticut was visible in Providence (p.173). The fast-moving hurricane departed as quickly as it arrived (Chapter 14). The newspapers reported the death and destruction (pp.179-180). Chapter 15 has more stories from the survivors. Some bodies were found weeks later, some were never found (p.191). Many died from exposure (p.197). Hundreds of millions of trees were uprooted (pp.201-202). 9,000 homes and buildings were totally destroyed, 15,000 were damaged (p.205). Fishing communities were nearly wiped out (p.206). The Weather Bureau was criticized for its failure to report the hurricane (p.207). GH38 wasn't big news for most of the country (p.208). The Weather Bureau improved its forecasts (p.212). Homeowner's insurance was rare (p.213), many lost homes were never replaced. [Could the forgetfulness of this disaster be explained by a need to keep tourists coming?]

Summary of The Great Hurricane: 1938

On the night of September 21,1938, news on the radio was full of the invasion of Czechoslovakia. There was no mention of any severe weather. By the time oceanfront residents noticed an ominous color in the sky, it was too late to escape. In an age before warning systems and the ubiquity of television, this unprecedented storm caught the Northeast off guard, obliterated coastal communities, and killed seven hundred people.

The Great Hurricane: 1938is a spellbinding hour-by-hour reconstruction of one of the most destructive and powerful storms ever to hit the United States. With riveting detail, Burns weaves together the countless personal stories of loved ones lost and lives changed forever ? from those of the Moore family, washed to sea on a raft formerly their attic floor, to Katharine Hepburn, holed up in her Connecticut mansion, watching her car take to the air like a bit of paper.

20th Century Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in 20th Century Books
Route 66: The Mother Road ImageRoute 66: The Mother Road
by Michael Wallis
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 1992-09-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.85
Sweet and Low: A Family Story ImageSweet and Low: A Family Story
by Rich Cohen
Picador; Published: 2007-03-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.08
Price in other shops: $15.00
When We Get to Surf City: A Journey Through America in Pursuit of Rock and Roll, Friendship, and Dreams ImageWhen We Get to Surf City: A Journey Through America in Pursuit of Rock and Roll, Friendship, and Dreams
by Bob Greene
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-05-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.60
Price in other shops: $24.95
Gone to Texas: A History of the Lone Star State ImageGone to Texas: A History of the Lone Star State
by Randolph B. Campbell
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2003-08-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $155.33
The Dodgers Move West ImageThe Dodgers Move West
by Neil Sullivan
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1989-06-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.93
Price in other shops: $24.99
American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush ImageAmerican Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush
by Kevin Phillips
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2004-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.95
Price in other shops: $15.00
Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam ImageDereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
by H. R. McMaster
Harper Perennial; Published: 1998-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.36
Price in other shops: $16.99
My Father the Spy: An Investigative Memoir ImageMy Father the Spy: An Investigative Memoir
by John H. Richardson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-08-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $14.95
My Father the Spy: An Investigative Memoir ImageMy Father the Spy: An Investigative Memoir
by John H. Richardson
Harper; Published: 2005-08-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.59
Price in other shops: $24.95
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 ImageA Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906
by Simon Winchester
PBS; Harper; Published: 2005-10-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.54
Price in other shops: $27.95
Similar Books and other products
Category 5: The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane ImageCategory 5: The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane
by Thomas Neil Knowles
University Press of Florida; Published: 2009-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.03
Price in other shops: $29.95
Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 ImageStorm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
by Willie Drye
National Geographic; Published: 2003-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops: $14.00
Blizzard!: The Storm That Changed America ImageBlizzard!: The Storm That Changed America
by Jim Murphy
Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 2006-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $12.99
Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 ImageSudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938
by R.A. Scotti
Little, Brown; Published: 2003-09-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.08
Price in other shops: $24.95
Hurricane in the Hamptons, 1938 (NY)  (Images of America) ImageHurricane in the Hamptons, 1938 (NY) (Images of America)
by Mary Cummings
Arcadia Publishing; Published: 2006-08-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.69
Price in other shops: $21.99
The Hurricane of 1938 (NE Remembers) ImageThe Hurricane of 1938 (NE Remembers)
by Robert Allison, Aram Goudsouzian
Commonwealth Editions; Published: 2004-07-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops: $12.95
A Weekend in September ImageA Weekend in September
by John Edward Weems
TAMU Press; Published: 1988-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.32
Price in other shops: $13.95
The 1938 Hurricane Along New England's Coast (Images of America) ImageThe 1938 Hurricane Along New England's Coast (Images of America)
by Joseph Soares
Arcadia Publishing; Published: 2008-04-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.33
Price in other shops: $21.99
A Wind To Shake The World (Allen Reprints) ImageA Wind To Shake The World (Allen Reprints)
by Everett S. Allen
Commonwealth Editions; Published: 2006-02-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops: $17.95
Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 ImageSudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938
by R.A. Scotti
Back Bay Books; Published: 2004-08-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops: $14.95