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    Dark Tide

    The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919

    Part of Beacon Classics

    Author Stephen Puleo
    Hardcover
    $25.00 US
    Beacon Press
    6"W x 9"H | 20 oz | 12 per carton
    On sale Jan 05, 2027 | 280 Pages | 9780807026380
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    This edition is no longer in print. Please check ISBN: 9780807078006 for the most recent edition.

    Around noon on January 15, 1919, a group of firefighters was playing cards in Boston's North End when they heard a tremendous crash. It was like roaring surf, one of them said later. Like a runaway two-horse team smashing through a fence, said another. A third firefighter jumped up from his chair to look out a window-"Oh my God!" he shouted to the other men, "Run!"

    A 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses had just collapsed on Boston's waterfront, disgorging its contents as a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that at its outset traveled at 35 miles an hour. It demolished wooden homes, even the brick fire station. The number of dead wasn't known for days. It would be years before a landmark court battle determined who was responsible for the disaster.
    Stephen Puleo is the author of several books including the Boston Globe bestseller The Boston Italians and the critically acclaimed Boston-area bestseller Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. A former award-winning newspaper reporter and contributor to American History magazine, he holds a master’s degree in history and teaches at Suffolk University. He and his wife, Kate, live in the Boston area. Find him online at www.stephenpuleo.com. View titles by Stephen Puleo
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    Author’s Note

    Prologue: Isaac’s Demons

    Part One: A Monster in Our Midst

    1. Deadline on the Waterfront
    2. Neighborhood Weeping
    3. Along the Gulf Stream
    4. War and Anarchy
    5. Heavy Load

    Part Two: Waves of Terror

    6. Before . . .
    7. Engulfed!
    8. “I Am Prepared to Meet my God”
    9. Darkening Skies

    Part Three: David vs. Goliath

    10. “One of the Worst Catastrophes”
    11. Factor of Safety
    12. “A Sordid Story”

    Epilogue
    List of Deceased
    Bibliographic Essay
    Acknowledgments
    Index
    Afterword to the Anniversary Edition
    Narrated with gusto . . . [Puleo's] enthusiasm for a little-known catastrophe is infectious. —The New Yorker

    "Compelling . . . Puleo has done justice to a gripping historical story."—Ralph Ranalli, Boston Globe

    "Thoroughly researched . . . weaves together the stories of the people and families affected by the disaster, with often heartbreaking glimpses of their fates . . . The cleanup lasted months, the lawsuits years, the fearful memories a lifetime." —Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press

    "Giving a human face to tragedy is part of the brilliance of Stephen Puleo's Dark Tide . . . Until they were given voice in this book, the characters who drove the story were forgotten." —Caroline Leavitt, Boston Sunday Globe

    About

    This edition is no longer in print. Please check ISBN: 9780807078006 for the most recent edition.

    Around noon on January 15, 1919, a group of firefighters was playing cards in Boston's North End when they heard a tremendous crash. It was like roaring surf, one of them said later. Like a runaway two-horse team smashing through a fence, said another. A third firefighter jumped up from his chair to look out a window-"Oh my God!" he shouted to the other men, "Run!"

    A 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses had just collapsed on Boston's waterfront, disgorging its contents as a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that at its outset traveled at 35 miles an hour. It demolished wooden homes, even the brick fire station. The number of dead wasn't known for days. It would be years before a landmark court battle determined who was responsible for the disaster.

    Creators

    Stephen Puleo is the author of several books including the Boston Globe bestseller The Boston Italians and the critically acclaimed Boston-area bestseller Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. A former award-winning newspaper reporter and contributor to American History magazine, he holds a master’s degree in history and teaches at Suffolk University. He and his wife, Kate, live in the Boston area. Find him online at www.stephenpuleo.com. View titles by Stephen Puleo

    Table of Contents

    Author’s Note

    Prologue: Isaac’s Demons

    Part One: A Monster in Our Midst

    1. Deadline on the Waterfront
    2. Neighborhood Weeping
    3. Along the Gulf Stream
    4. War and Anarchy
    5. Heavy Load

    Part Two: Waves of Terror

    6. Before . . .
    7. Engulfed!
    8. “I Am Prepared to Meet my God”
    9. Darkening Skies

    Part Three: David vs. Goliath

    10. “One of the Worst Catastrophes”
    11. Factor of Safety
    12. “A Sordid Story”

    Epilogue
    List of Deceased
    Bibliographic Essay
    Acknowledgments
    Index
    Afterword to the Anniversary Edition

    Praise

    Narrated with gusto . . . [Puleo's] enthusiasm for a little-known catastrophe is infectious. —The New Yorker

    "Compelling . . . Puleo has done justice to a gripping historical story."—Ralph Ranalli, Boston Globe

    "Thoroughly researched . . . weaves together the stories of the people and families affected by the disaster, with often heartbreaking glimpses of their fates . . . The cleanup lasted months, the lawsuits years, the fearful memories a lifetime." —Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press

    "Giving a human face to tragedy is part of the brilliance of Stephen Puleo's Dark Tide . . . Until they were given voice in this book, the characters who drove the story were forgotten." —Caroline Leavitt, Boston Sunday Globe

    Additional formats

    • Dark Tide
      Dark Tide
      The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919
      Stephen Puleo
      9780807078006
      $18.95 US
      Paperback
      Beacon Press
      On sale Jan 15, 2019
    • Dark Tide
      Dark Tide
      The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919
      Stephen Puleo
      9780807078006
      $18.95 US
      Paperback
      Beacon Press
      On sale Jan 15, 2019

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      Paperback
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    • The Boston Italians
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      A Story of Pride, Perseverance, and Paesani, from the Years of the Great Immigration to the Present Day
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      9780807050378
      $20.00 US
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    • A City So Grand
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      Stephen Puleo
      9780807001493
      $21.00 US
      Paperback
      Beacon Press
      On sale May 17, 2011
    • The Boston Italians
      The Boston Italians
      A Story of Pride, Perseverance, and Paesani, from the Years of the Great Immigration to the Present Day
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      9780807050378
      $20.00 US
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      On sale May 01, 2008

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