Dark Tide - by Stephen Puleo (Paperback)

About the Book

Chronicles the January 15, 1919 Boston Molasses Flood that killed twenty-one people when over two million gallons of molasses poured out of the steel tank that stored it and traveled through the city's North End.

Book Synopsis

"The definitive account of America's most fascinating and surreal disaster."--John Marr, San Francisco Bay Guardian

"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

A 100th anniversary edition with a new afterword of the only adult book on one of the odder disasters in US history--documenting the greed, disregard for poor immigrants, and lack of safety standards that led to it

Around noon on January 15, 1919, a group of firefighters was playing cards in Boston's North End when they heard a tremendous crash. One 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 in a 15-foot-high wave that traveled at 35 miles per hour. It demolished wooden homes, even the brick fire station. The number of dead wasn't known for days.

Dark Tide tells the story of the molasses flood in its full historical context. Tracing the era from the tank's construction in 1915 through the multiyear lawsuit that followed the disaster, and drawing from long-lost court documents, fire department records, and newspaper accounts, Stephen Puleo uses the gripping drama of the molasses flood to examine the sweeping changes brought about by World War I, Prohibition, the anarchist movement, immigration, and the expanding role of big business in society.

It's also a chronicle of the courage of ordinary people, from the firemen caught in an unimaginable catastrophe to Judge Hugh Ogden, the soldier-lawyer who presided over the lawsuit against USIA with heroic impartiality.

Review Quotes

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 the Author

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.