The Johnstown Flood 

The Johnstown Flood — A Riveting True Story of Tragedy, Power, and Responsibility

From Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David McCullough comes the breathtaking account of one of America’s greatest disasters — the Johnstown Flood of 1889. This unforgettable story captures the clash between progress, privilege, and human neglect in the Gilded Age.

At the close of the nineteenth century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a thriving industrial town fueled by steel and coal. High above it, wealthy industrialists — including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon — maintained an exclusive summer retreat behind a hastily rebuilt earthen dam. Despite multiple warnings about its instability, no one took action.

On May 31, 1889, the dam gave way, unleashing a wall of water that obliterated Johnstown and killed more than 2,000 people. What followed was not only a tale of unimaginable devastation but also a scathing reflection on the era’s arrogance and misplaced trust in the powerful.

With his signature depth and humanity, McCullough transforms this historical catastrophe into a timeless moral lesson — a reminder that wealth and responsibility do not always go hand in hand.

The Johnstown Flood stands as a classic of American history — vivid, haunting, and profoundly relevant even today.

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