I love reading books about little known events. For one thing it can shine a light on the forgotten victims and survivors if nothing else.
This book tells of a disaster that seems unbelievable - a 3 hour tour if you will that went very wrong. The S.S Eastland was carrying 2,500 passengers to a picnic on the shores of Lake Michigan and it didn't even make it out of port before it tipped over. 844 people died - crushed from falling furniture, etc, trapped and drowned. This book focuses on several of the passengers - some who survived and some who did not.
My biggest issue with the book is that since it is not well known and not well documented there isn't a whole lot to tell. There is a good bit leading up - why they were going, background on ship, some of the people and their background but it loses some punch when you don't get to know the people well. Maybe a fictionalized account would have been better?? Not sure...
No comments:
Post a Comment