Storms have always fascinated me. Some, like tornadoes or the thunderstorms we had in Missouri, scare the beejeezus out of me. Others, like snow storms and summer showers on the east coast, I find comforting. So it was with a bit of anticipation and trepidation (heck, the subtitle tells you it was the deadliest storm in history), that I read Isaac’s Storm.

Isaac’s Storm tells the story of a hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900. It’s another in the great non-fiction books from author Erik Larson (I’ve read Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts previously). Rather than focusing on telling this story on only two different viewpoints, as he mostly did in those other books, here we see things from multiple view points, all those affected by or having an effect on (well the death tolls anyway) of the storm.

Overall, I really liked this book and rate it my second favorite of the three of his I’ve read (after Devil) though I could have done without all of the science behind the storm, and skimmed much of it, some of it was interesting. The human side though is compelling and heartbreaking and if you like non-fiction, I would definitely give this one a go.