The Greatest Disaster Stories Ever Told: Seventeen Harrowing Tales [Paperback]

Lamar Underwood (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Greatest | Publication Date: November 1, 2003

Although the term "greatest disaster stories" sounds like a front-rank qualifier for an oxymoron, the title aptly describes the intent of this anthology: to bring together in a single volume the most interesting, readable, and compassionate accounts of events so catastrophic they will never be forgotten.

In the disaster accounts presented here, the events described run the gamut from shipwrecks to industrial catastrophe. There are plane crashes, floods, volcanic eruptions, storms, and raging fires. And, of course, the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001 are covered in heart-wrenching detail.

This book contains true accounts of such monumental disasters as:

The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York; the sinkings of the Titanic and the Lusitania; the Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood; the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens; the destruction of Galveston, Texas by the deadliest hurricane in American history; the B-25 bomber crash into the Empire State Building; the sinking of the USS Indianapolis; the runway collision between Pan Am and KLM 747s that resulted in 578 deaths; the 1996 explosion of TWA Flight 800; the Bhopal, India toxic chemical leak, which claimed 2,500 lives; the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy; the Hartford Circus fire; the Chicago Orphanage fire; the New York Triangle fire; and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Every once in a while, a book publisher comes up with a great concept for a series of books that deserve more than superficial recognition. Such a series is "The Greatest (fill in the blank) Stories Ever Told", anthologies that should win places on many bedside tables. On the long winter nights that lie ahead, such stories make great reading." --The Lexington County Chronicle

: "The Lyons Press, which clearly isn't one to abandon a winning formula, has now published more than 15 "The Greatest¿Stories" anthologies, covering such topics as fishing, hunting, sailing and flying. But while the formula may be familiar, the articles themselves are fresh and involving. The disaster collection continues the high quality of the series with superb pieces." --Tribune & Times (Tampa area)

From the Back Cover

This anthology brings together in a single volume the most interesting, readable, and compassionate accounts of events so catastrophic they will never be forgotten.
The disasters described between these covers run the gamut from shipwrecks to industrial catastrophes. There are plane crashes, floods, volcanic eruptions, storms, and raging fires. And of course, the 9/11 terrorist attacks are covered in heart-wrenching detail.
This book contains true accounts of such monumental disasters as: the sinkings of the Titanic and the Lusitania; the Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood; the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens; the destruction of Galveston, Texas by the deadliest hurricane in American history; the B-25 bomber crash into the Empire State Building; the sinking of the USS Indianapolis; the runway collision between Pan Am and KLM 747s that resulted in 578 deaths; the 1996 explosion of TWA Flight 800; the Bhopal, India toxic chemical leak, which claimed 2,500 lives; the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy; and more.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592280854
• ISBN-13: 978-1592280858
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,017,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't read this book on an airplane, July 12, 2005

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Greatest Disaster Stories Ever Told: Seventeen Harrowing Tales (Paperback)

This is not a good book for those of us who like to read about catastrophes from a comfortable psychological distance. The editor, Lamar Underwood has selected seventeen harrowing excerpts from books and articles grouped under the titles, "Terrorist Attacks," "The Crucible of Fire: Tragedy, Escape, and Remembrance," "Natural Causes: When Time and Luck Run Out," "Disaster at Sea: Victims, Heroes, and Doomed Voyages," and "The Hand of Man: Of Failure and Catastrophe." He does a masterful job of bringing you in, up close and personal. I don't think you'll be able to shield yourself from the horror of the victims' plights, most especially in last section of this book: "Flights that Failed: Aviation's Darkest Hours."

It was not a good idea to read this book a week before I plan to fly to London. I most especially recommend that you do NOT read "The Greatest Disaster Stories Ever Told" while actually seated on a plane.

I had already read a couple of the books that Underwood used as sources, and so I can personally testify that he did a tremendous job of selecting the most frightening, heart-wrenching parts of "Isaac's Storm" and "The Johnstown Flood" to include in his anthology.

Don't be surprised if you find yourself searching out the editor's original book selections, in order to discover the ultimate fate of the victims. I need to find Arthur Weingarten's book, "The Sky is Falling" (1977 - Grosset & Dunlap), excerpted here, to learn the outcome of a day in New York City in 1945 that foreshadowed 9/11--the day that a B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building.

Weingarten's account of an elevator operator who hurtled 76 stories down into the basement of the Empire State Building, after the six braided steel cables of her elevator were sliced through by the B-25's engine, which then broke through the elevator's roof, is especially terrifying (Claustrophobes, do not read this story!): "Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of the red lights flashing on the panel indicator. 76...75...74...The numbers were running into a vertical blur...she flung herself across the car, raising her hands above her head to ward off the flaming debris that poured through the hole in the roof."

What provisions were made for the victims of the Bhopal Catastrophe?

What was the ultimate fate of the survivors of the 'Lusitania' and the 'U.S.S. Indianapolis'?

Did Betty, the elevator operator survive her crushing, fiery descent?

This book raises many more questions than it answers.

4.0 out of 5 stars good launching pad for further study, December 29, 2005

By 

Lisa Wangsgard "bibliophile" (Sunset,UT,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greatest Disaster Stories Ever Told: Seventeen Harrowing Tales (Paperback)

I discovered this book last fall. I was only interested in one story, but I got engrossed in the book and read the entire thing in a couple of nights. What especially sticks out is the excerpt on the Our Lady of the Angels fire. I had only a vague idea of this terrible fire, which happened in 1958, two years before I was born. After reading an excerpt from To Sleep with the Angels I quickly went out and bought that book. I have greatest disaster stories 4 stars, as I agree that Underwood could have added more about the aftermath, but it's still worth reading-- you can do further research on your own if you find a particularly interesting.