Customer Reviews

Through a Night of Horrors: Voices from the 1900 Galveston Storm

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This is a must-own book if you're interested in the great storm of 1900 or Galveston history generally.If you're going to buy just one Texas history book this year this is definitely the one to get. Despite the fact that the scholarship and research that went into this book is first rate,it is highly readable and you can almost hear the voices of people who experienced first hand the tragic events of this greatest of American natural disasters.The pictures and maps in this book are also woven together in a marvelous fashion. The Rosenberg Library in Galveston is to be commended for using its collection to put together this extraordinary book, which tells a powerful and moving story.This is history at its best.

Ed Cotham Author of Battle on the Bay: The Civil War Struggle for Galveston

This is a collection of stories gathered from first hand survivors of the Great Galveston Hurricane that occured on September 9th in 1900. There are letters that were written in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, as well as memoirs written in the years that followed. Oral histories are transcribed, so that you "hear" the voices of those that went through the storm and the recovery efforts. Many of the sources were collected from the Rosenberg Library in Galveston. The letters and the memoirs are reproduced in their original form, which only adds to the pure authenticity of the horror and despair of the residents of Galveston.
The book begins with excerpts from a daily journal kept by Isaac Cline who was the U.S. Weather Bureau meteorologist in atime when meteorology and it's vital importance was in it's infancy. What follows are horrifying accounts of the total destruction of what had been a city in the midst of an economic boom, the 3rd richest city in proportion to it's population, a railroad center, a banking center, and a huge exporter of cotton, wheat, cattle and corn. As the economy boomed, the citizens of Galveston turned away from the possibility of a major hurricane striking them.
When the hurricane did strike Galveston, the city was nearly wiped clean. Estimates of the dead start conservatively at 6000 and as high as 12000. Marshall law was declared in order to quell the looting and other forms of civil disobedience that occured. Rumors ran rampant in the streets after the storm creating fear and panic to a decimated population. The death toll was so immense that bodies of the deceased were brought to the beach in any form of conveyance available and stacked in piles. Seeking the missing family members and friends was a hideous labor. Insurmountable odds faced those that searched the stacks of the dead.
As recovery efforts progressed it was realized by all that a complete reorganization of the local government was critical to the future of Galveston. The new government that was chosen streamlined the decision making process and it also provided clearly defined lines of responsibility. while Galveston did rebuild both physically and financially, it took careful planning and a realistic look at it's future.
There are over 70 photographs showing the aftermath of this catastrophic storm and the destruction wrought upon Galveston.
This book adds a clear and vivid account of the lives of those that survived this storm. This is a remarkable book that brings us a look at the human spirit of people whose lives are forever impacted by disaster and yet manage to continue on despite the hardships and vast loses.

This is the best book available on the Great Storm of 1900 and its effect on Galveston, Texas. An unbelievable amount of research obviously went into it. Very well written. Highly recommended.

Letter written during the storm. Weather logs. Final notes from those who did not survive.

"Through a Night of Horrors" takes notes from those who were in the great hurricane of 1900 written while the storm was going on and in the days following, to tell the true story.

Reading the unadulterated history is a very cool thing. I was reading this book as my family was going through Hurricane Ike. Seeing the stories in this book, reading the words of people who were like my own grandmother, who was on the Texas gulf coast as a 6 year old child during this hurricane, I felt the living history.

Fantastic book. Wonderful.

My family and I are currently on an extended road trip and Galveston was one of our stops. Having never been to Galveston, I was keen to discover more of its history and visited many historical sites. It was evident that Hurricane Ike had wrought extensive damage on property around Galveston. When we visited Bishop's Palace, a historical building (and a beautiful one at that), I learned of another great storm that wrought greater destruction upon Galveston and its inhabitants - the great storm of 1900. I bought this book at one of the local gift shops and it has been an illuminating though heartrending read.

This book compiles stories by those who survived the great Galveston storm of 1900. Many of these accounts take the form of memoirs written by survivors as well as letters. There are also transcriptions of oral accounts which lend a great deal of authenticity and poignancy to the stories. Another aspect that made this a heartrending read for me was the fact that the storm struck at a time when the city was experiencing a boom - in fact, Galveston had a vibrant cultural scene, and was a city that drew the rich and cultured. Unfortunately, this economic boom also served to distract the locals from considering the possibility of a calamitous weather event that could threaten all that they had built.

The casualties of the storm range from 6,000-8,000 (based on what I've read, though I heard that it could have been higher). Needless to say, Galveston was never the same again - driving through the city, one cannot help but think of what might have been, and the remnants of the Golden Age of Galveston are still there to remind visitors and residents of the rich cultural history that once was. This is a compelling read and will appeal to history buffs as well as those interested in the history of Galveston.

This is a great resource of first-hand accounts of the storm. That not everyone's memory is perfect is part of its appeal, since it's often instructive to see what's remembered and what isn't.

What really struck me about this book were the accounts of people leaving safe places and going out into the storm when there was no compelling need, making choices that even at the time must've seemed crazy. Most people on the island tried to be rational, but a few seemed to have no idea that trudging through chest-high water during a hurricane, with debris flying everywhere, was a bad idea.

Over a hundred years later, the human race doesn't appear to be any more or less sensible, on average. Make of that what you will.

very well written ! couldn't put it down and it gave a real understanding of that type of event

I bought this book on the basis of a National Public Radio story which promoted it in an in-depth study of the devestating 1900 hurricane that killed thousands in Galveston, Texas. The radio spot spared no expense with the sound of hurricane force wind surrounding the historic taped voices of survivors describing a night where death pounded on the door. It made a much better radio show than it does a book. The problem is, the eyewitnes accounts are all in cloudy retrospect, some were taped seventy-plus years afterwords and are shaky historic accuracy. The book is a compilation of various communications from victims and survivors; personal letters, weather reports, diary entries, newspaper headlines and the mighty storm soon becomes as redundant as a 'Weather Channel' report. If the authors had found a grocery list of a victim, it would be included. Surely this hurricane which killed over 5000 people in an American coastal community in 1900 was more horrific than the drab, hearsay accounts given here. There is no journalistic quality. Even the photographs show page after page of what appears to be the same pile of wooden rubble.