Blizzard!: The Storm That Changed America

I don't remember reading about this period in class.

Our family has bought several copies. This storm started the day our Mother, Grandmother, Aunt, Great Grandmother, (etc) was born in Plumville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. She passed awayin February 1979. She raised 14 children.

Fantastic book about a horrific event in American history.

At the start of 2015, Bostonians braced for back-to-back nor’easters. The storms dumped almost 50” of snow in two days. News coverage of our record-breaking snowfall of 2015 mentioned the Blizzard of 1888 with its nearly 60", which is how I came to read this excellent book. Author Jim Murphy focuses on New York City – not Boston - in his “riveting story of a region brought to its knees by the three days and nights of hurricane-force winds and unrelenting snow.” Still, the “Snowpocalyse" of 127 years ago is a gripping read in the hands of this master storyteller who also wrote “The Great Fire.”Like in his other works, Murphy is generous with his illustrations - many of the drawings and photographs are from the author’s personal collection indicating his level of interest in his subject. The weather maps also help explain how the storm developed so quickly and covered such a wide area extending from the Carolinas all the way up the coast to Maine. At only 124 pages, Murphy’s story moves as fast as the storm did. His writing gift is to put you in the moment through his narration, his graphics, and his telling little details (Mark Twain got stranded at a NYC hotel). Seriously, I was shivering as I read some passages. I highly recommend this book to weather buffs and history aficionados.

It's a good book - don't get me wrong - I liked it - but it's not as "in depth" as some of the stuff I've read on this subject in the past - in fact, it's been a long time since I've noted anything on the subject. Just goes to show no matter how man's technology seem to be making life easier on planet Earth - Mother Nature can still throw us a curve ball. The thing that really bothered me though was how man treated horses in those days - good thing the SPCA didn't exist or some people would have their butts in jail.

Bought this for my son's book project. It's written well and chronologically. The book as published is high quality - has nice big print, with pictures.

This is a very readable non fiction book about the East Coast blizzard of 1888.. Lots of detail and engaging text and illustrations. My fifth graders loved this book and were inspired to do some primary research about the period on line., It meets the high standard of his other books for kids. Lots of information about the history of weather forecasting, it also includes a hefty amount of 19th century social history (post-Civil War). While I used it in science class, it would stand on its own for a reading group. He also replied to a letter we sent him.

This was a good overview of the Blizzard of 1888, not only the conditions at the time but how it changed both attitudes and the future of the country. It was very well written and easy to read giving many personal accounts as well as showing the "official" accounts of the storm and the havoc it created over two days that in some cases caused impact over weeks and months.

excellent book