Trapped!: The Story of Floyd Collins [Paperback]

Robert K. Murray (Author), Roger W. Brucker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 1982

"When Floyd Collins became trapped in a cave in southern Kentucky in early 1925, the sensationalism and hysteria of the rescue attempt generated America's first true media spectacle, making Collins's story one of the seminal events of the century. The crowds that gathered outside Sand Cave turned the rescue site into a carnival. Collins's situation was front-page news throughout the country, hourly bulletins interrupted radio programs, and Congress recessed to hear the latest word. Trapped! is both a tense adventure and a brilliant historical recreation of the past. This new edition includes a new epilogue revealing information about the Floyed Collins story that has come to light since the book was first published.

Editorial Reviews

Review

""The event was ranked the third largest news story between World Wars I and II, topped only by Charles Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic in 1927 and the kidnapping of his baby in 1932."" -- El Paso Times

""This gripping account of the 1925 entrapment of Floyd Collins in Sand Cave simultaneously thrills and terrifies any reader."" -- Kentucky Living

""An eye-opening look at the 1925 news story of Kentuckian Floyd Collins, trapped in a cave near Cave City.... Both a fine historical investigative piece and a compelling read."" -- Kentucky Monthly

""The story of Floyd Collins's entrapment in a Kentucky cave makes for chilling and exciting reading."" -- Library Journal

""The tension and confusion of the days of rescue attempts are made real.... The abysmally tragic efforts to capitalize on an exhibition of the cave explorer's body is not omitted."" -- The Augusta Chronicle

""An exciting narrative account of Floyd Collins's entrapment in a Kentucky cave in 1925 and the folklore that grew around what became a great public event."" -- The Journal of Southern History

""TRAPPED! is both a tense adventure and a brilliant historical recreation of the past."" -- pselunking-books.blogspot.com

About the Author

ROGER W. BRUCKER is an American cave explorer and author of books about caves. He helped create the Cave Research Foundation, which set new standards for cave exploration, and co-authored The Longest Cave about Kentucky s Mammoth Cave.

ROBERT K. MURRAY is professor emeritus and former chairman of the department of history at Pennsylvania State University. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky; Revised edition (December 31, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813101530
• ISBN-13: 978-0813101538
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #583,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trapped ! The Story of Floyd Collins, December 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Trapped!: The Story of Floyd Collins (Paperback)

As a former resident of Lexington Kentucky, I quickly became fascinated with caves soon after moving there. After visiting Mammoth Cave and several smaller caves in the area, I heard the story of Floyd Collins. Being naturally curious I had to read the book. I read it in one sitting! The reader is wedged in that narrow space, the suspense is unberable. But it was not until a year later when I actually visited the site that the full scope of the tragedy hit home. The site is at least a ten minute treck through the woods. It's very lonely. At the end of the path is an outcropping of rock, not at all what I expected, tremendously overgrown with only a small written testimonial to his life and tragic death. At the bottom of a steep slope is an opening.Apparently the state or local government was in such fear of anyone trying this fatal mistake again, the opening is covered with thick metal bars. My fascination faded, a hard shiver went down my back and I truly felt a sadness for this unfortunate explorer. This book is a MUST READ, the reader will not be disappointed.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trapped: The Story of Floyd Collins, December 20, 2002

By 

Norman Winegar (Woodstock, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trapped!: The Story of Floyd Collins (Paperback)

When asked about his earliest childhood memory, my late father would tell of his dad carrying him to his uncle's house to listen to radio news reports of the attempted rescue of Floyd Collins from a cave in nearby Kentucky. This book brings to life those events that captured the nation's attention in Jan.-Feb. 1925. Trapped is a well-written, well-documented account of the tragedy that occured in the central Kentucky hills and before watchful eyes of the nation. Its a gripping account that manages to capture the facts of the event, including great details of America's first modern media circus, while still attending to the many colorful characters who played a role in Collin's life, the rescue attempt, and the aftermath.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very informative with surprising new facts about the tragedy, May 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Trapped!: The Story of Floyd Collins (Paperback)

I found this book on the shelf at my aunt's house and asked her what it was about. It turns out that Floyd Collins was a cousin of my grandmother's. It was for that reason that I read the book, but I enjoyed it for it's content and structure. The first portion of the book builds the historical background and sets the scene for the expedition by the authors into the cave that Floyd Collins was trapped in. This was the first expedition into the actual chamber in which Floyd Collins died, and what they found shocked me. This is a very interesting book which outlines the media's involvement in the event and documents the involvement of several individuals in the rescue effort, including Skeets Miller and Johnnie Gerald. There is good photography and an impressive list of people from which first-hand accounts were recorded by the authors. This is a very informative book and a must-have for anyone interested in Mammoth Caves or Floyd Collins, and it is well worth your time.