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nephiw's review against another edition
2.0
The author writes each event as good vs evil, I don't think life is so binary. The "evil" characters are presented shallowly - they exemplify greed or hubris and that is as much as is told. I appreciate the focus on the helpers though. The people who put their lives at risk to help strangers deserve recognition. I find less value in the blame game.
katiemayveil's review against another edition
4.0
Catastrophes and Heroes brings together eight disasters that occurred between 1865 and 1963, when advances were made in engineering, industry and technology. This period of time was full of great inventions and forward movement in many areas of life, but occasionally shortcuts were made or poor decisions acted upon that caused loss of life and damage to homes and whole towns. Jerry Borrowman focuses on the cause of the tragedies, as well as the unsung heroes that came forward to help after the disaster.
From America's Civil War to post WWII Italy, Jerry Borrowman has brought together disasters that you've probably never heard about, unless you live in an area where one occurred. He talks about the precautions put in place to avoid future happenings, checks and balances, as well as how victims are remembered.
In the introduction he says, "We live in a world in which we are completely dependent on an almost invisible but highly engineered infrastructure that makes modern life possible...And all this is so well-designed that we hardly give it a thought-at least until something goes wrong."
I enjoy historical books, and I love that Jerry Borrowman includes lessons we can learn from the past. This is a great book for anyone who is interested in history, disasters, engineering, or technology. It is very engaging and will keep you turning pages until the end.
From America's Civil War to post WWII Italy, Jerry Borrowman has brought together disasters that you've probably never heard about, unless you live in an area where one occurred. He talks about the precautions put in place to avoid future happenings, checks and balances, as well as how victims are remembered.
In the introduction he says, "We live in a world in which we are completely dependent on an almost invisible but highly engineered infrastructure that makes modern life possible...And all this is so well-designed that we hardly give it a thought-at least until something goes wrong."
I enjoy historical books, and I love that Jerry Borrowman includes lessons we can learn from the past. This is a great book for anyone who is interested in history, disasters, engineering, or technology. It is very engaging and will keep you turning pages until the end.
averyfrost's review against another edition
4.0
As Seagull Book employees, we received free copies of this book way back in September. I took one because I love books, but I didn't have any intentions of reading it so soon. I'm certainly glad that I did. I don't normally delve into non-fiction literature, but I do love history. Watching documentaries, especially on disasters of gargantuan scale, is one of my favorite pastimes. Each chapter of this book felt like an episode of a series documentary. I must say that I was more entertained than I thought I would be. I had never heard of any of these catastrophes and now that I have I am amazed at the heroes and villains who took part in these real-life accounts. The book was very well researched and I can't help but be impressed by the amount of time and care put into telling these incredible and devastating stories. Thank you for an informative few days, Mr. Borrowman. 4/5 stars
teenage_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Plot:
Catastrophes happen, but not all of them are from natural phenomenons. There is always someone who makes a choice for mostly selfish reasons, which leads to the death of others. From overloading a boat with passengers, building too narrow of a bridge that cannot handle high winds, and maybe a purposeful attack to cause the derailment of a train. Despite these dark times, and the person who causes the darkness to happen, there are heroes and first responders, who risk their own life in order to save the lives of others. Borrowman takes you on a chronological timeline starting in 1865 and ending in 1963, for eight catastrophes that have happened in the world. Through these Borrowman explains who is responsible for the cause of these catastrophes, what happened to cause them, who was there to save the day, and what the world learned from these disasters.
Thoughts:
Jerry Borrowman clearly knows how to make a history book fun. Easy to read, Borrowman tells a visually stunning tale of catastrophes that happened around the world, most of which are not widely known as, knowing some history myself, I did not know any of these eight events happened. Borrowman dedicated a chapter to each event and subdivided those chapters to clearly tell us what was the human cost of the tragedy, an overview of the situation, what was the fateful choice, the victims and the heroes, and ending it with what the world learned from the catastrophe. Because of this clear setup, Borrowman's book was easy to understand and read, and made it an enjoyable process to learn about these historical events. What truly brought this book up a level was Borrowman inclusiveness of adding the speech texts of people who witness these events, and give depth to show that these events actually did happen, as sometimes with history it's hard to imagine people actually seeing these things happen. Overall, this is an easy and fast read novel, that gives you insight on events that shaped the world we see today, and reminds you that history does not have to be a boring thing.
Catastrophes happen, but not all of them are from natural phenomenons. There is always someone who makes a choice for mostly selfish reasons, which leads to the death of others. From overloading a boat with passengers, building too narrow of a bridge that cannot handle high winds, and maybe a purposeful attack to cause the derailment of a train. Despite these dark times, and the person who causes the darkness to happen, there are heroes and first responders, who risk their own life in order to save the lives of others. Borrowman takes you on a chronological timeline starting in 1865 and ending in 1963, for eight catastrophes that have happened in the world. Through these Borrowman explains who is responsible for the cause of these catastrophes, what happened to cause them, who was there to save the day, and what the world learned from these disasters.
Thoughts:
Jerry Borrowman clearly knows how to make a history book fun. Easy to read, Borrowman tells a visually stunning tale of catastrophes that happened around the world, most of which are not widely known as, knowing some history myself, I did not know any of these eight events happened. Borrowman dedicated a chapter to each event and subdivided those chapters to clearly tell us what was the human cost of the tragedy, an overview of the situation, what was the fateful choice, the victims and the heroes, and ending it with what the world learned from the catastrophe. Because of this clear setup, Borrowman's book was easy to understand and read, and made it an enjoyable process to learn about these historical events. What truly brought this book up a level was Borrowman inclusiveness of adding the speech texts of people who witness these events, and give depth to show that these events actually did happen, as sometimes with history it's hard to imagine people actually seeing these things happen. Overall, this is an easy and fast read novel, that gives you insight on events that shaped the world we see today, and reminds you that history does not have to be a boring thing.
pqlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Borrowman succinctly writes about eight tragic events that may be lesser known than, say Titanic, but equally catastrophic. He details the events (told in chronological order), the human costs, the causes, and also how these events forged changes to prevent similar situations in the future. This is an exceptional book that I would recommend to readers interested in human nature, true-life calamities, and in history. Thank you to Netgalley for my review copy.
gretel7's review against another edition
3.0
I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.
Clear and concise tellings of disasters that were magnified by natural and man-made events.
3☆
Clear and concise tellings of disasters that were magnified by natural and man-made events.
3☆
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