A Furious Sky

The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes

By: Eric Jay Dolin

Narrated by: Bob Souer

With A Furious Sky, Eric Jay Dolin has created a vivid, sprawling account of our encounters with hurricanes, from the nameless storms that threatened Columbus' New World voyages to the destruction wrought in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria. Weaving a story of shipwrecks and devastated cities, of heroism and folly, Dolin introduces a rich cast of unlikely heroes and puts us in the middle of the most devastating storms of the past, none worse than the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed at least 6,000 people, the highest toll of any natural disaster in American history.

Dolin draws on a vast array of sources as he melds American history, as it is usually told, with the history of hurricanes, showing how these tempests frequently helped determine the nation's course. Hurricanes, it turns out, prevented Spain from expanding its holdings in North America beyond Florida in the late 1500s, and they also played a key role in shifting the tide of the American Revolution against the British in the final stages of the conflict. As he moves through the centuries, following the rise of the United States despite the chaos caused by hurricanes, Dolin traces the corresponding development of hurricane science, from important discoveries made by Benjamin Franklin to the breakthroughs spurred by the necessities of World War II and the Cold War.

©2020 Eric Jay Dolin (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Fantastic

Listened to it 3 times. Dolin does an incredible job covering centuries worth of hurricane history in America.

It was very though and thought provoking.

It was a look into the past of our weather of which will have a terrible outcome if we sit by and do nothing but also shows how truly powerless we really are to the rules of nature. something we all can learn and live by, should we repeat the past.

Must read for coastal residents!

The Furious Sky provides a compelling look at the impact of hurricanes on North America. Every coastal resident and everyone looking to retire in warmer locations should be required to read it. The book is well written. engaging and the reader was perfect.

Dry in some places

Interesting personal stories and tales of very old storms that most people don’t know about.

Riveting

“A Furious Sky” kept me so enthralled that I finished the book in two days.
The story fascinated me. The pacing kept me interested throughout. And the narrator was masterful. He conveyed gravitas, urgency, and passion.
The author and narrator combined for a wonderful audiobook.

An interesting historic view.

Not surprisingly the information is weighted towards modern storms but the whole book is genuinely riveting. Surely everyone is an amateur meteorologist and the effects of hurricanes have an impact on all of us whether we live near a coast or not.

From the 1400’s to present day storms

I loved being in the middle of different time periods learning about horrific storms and the struggle for scientist to predict hurricanes. Maybe the natives that lived in the 1400s in the Caribbean Islands predicted the coming hurricanes best, beware the red skies that turn to black.

political at the end.

leave the politics out of your book on weather. obvious liberal bias regarding Katrina. regurgitating lies and letting local government of the hook.

Good start but went political at the end.

Started off great and was very factual and intriguing right up to the end were it went toward the left side of politics. And it missed a lot of the hurricanes that hit tje east cost,except for Hurricane Sandy otjer than that it missed Hazel,Hugo,Matthew, and any of the others. Could have been a great book if then would just stuck to weather.