Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938
by R.A. Scotti
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Book Summary Information
Author: R.A. ScottiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-08-24
ISBN: 0316832111
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938
Book Review: Terrifying Look at the Hurricane That Changed New England
Summary: 5 Stars
Occasionally, people ask me, "How do you decide what to read?" I can answer that when it comes to this book.
One night, while watching American Experience on PBS, I learned about The Great Hurricane of 1938 that ravaged New England. The hour long documentary was not enough to time for me to learn about this devastating event, I wanted to know more. A quick search of the internet turned up several books on the topic, but the one that seemed to be the best of them was R. A. Scotti's Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938. Coming at the end of the Great Depression and shortly before the outbreak of World War II, this hurricane seems to have been "lost" in time, or, at the very least, not well known outside of the affected area. For those that watched American Experience, and like me want to know more, this is an excellent choice.
Contents: Prologue: Gone with the Wind; A Perfect Day; The Way it Was; A Shift in the Wind; Hurricane Watch; At Sea; All Aboard; A Bright Young Man; Upside Down, Inside Out; Battening the Hatches; A One-Hundred-Year Storm; How Do You Lose a Hurricane?; The Long Island Express; Crossing the Sound; The Atlantic Ocean Bound Out of Bed; The Dangerous Right Semicircle; Providence; The Tempest; Cast Adrift; All Quiet; The Reckoning; The Last of the Old New England Summers; Afterword; Appendix: A Nickel for Your Story; Author's Acknowledgements; Sources and Chapter Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index
As Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 opens, R.A. Scotti introduces the reader to people, families, and areas along the New England coast. It is a quick, but intimate look into daily life of 1938 along the coast, interspersed with some historical perspective to provide the reader with the reasons for particular settlements, the rise of housing on barrier beaches, and the influx of the "summer people." Scotti is able to connect the reader with the many people who lived, and died, in the hurricane. For example, Joseph Matoes, who watched as his children were swept way from their school bus as a giant wave washed over the bridge connecting Jamestown, Rhode Island, with the island of Beavertail. Or the two young lovers, out for a stroll along a beach in Napatree, Rhode Island, when the hurricane came roaring up the coast. By the time these people, and more (including actress Katherine Hepburn), realize that the storm that is brewing off of the coast is more than the usual early season storm, it was too late. By the time the hurricane passed over the area, entire stretches of beach homes were gone, washed away, Providence, Rhode Island, was submerged under seventeen feet of water, entire families were dead, children were orphans, parents found themselves childless. The hurricane, which struck without warning, changed the landscape, geographically, economically, socially.
An excellent, fascinating, and compelling narrative of The Great Hurricane of 1938, Sudden Sea will take the reader back to the summer of 1938 as it existed before the weather changed everything for New England. The hurricane, which was forecasted to strike the Miami area, veered away from that area, and was lost by the National Weather Service. The story of how it was lost, resulting in no warnings, is almost as tragic as the resulting damage. Adding to the book, R.A. Scotti includes many pictures of the hardest hit areas, in before and after shots. She also includes a few maps, however there are none that show the track the hurricane took, which is the only disappointment in the book. For those not familiar with the area, this is a disservice to the reader. Scotti provides a very accessible primer on how hurricanes are created, weather and sea conditions that foster them, and references to earlier storms that have struck New England. In all, Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 is an exceptional account of the destructive power of a Category 5 hurricane and the devastating effect it had on New England.
Disclosure:
Obtained from: Library
Payment: Borrowed
Summary of Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938
In the tradition of "The Perfect Storm, Sudden Sea" harkens back to a natural disaster that struck terror in the hearts of many. In this narrative, readers experience The Great Hurricane of 1938, the most financially destructive storm on record.20th Century Books
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