As I was reading the first three chapters of The Johnstown Flood<\/em>, I felt like I was reading literature, not history. I knew McCullough had the ability to do this, though, as I have read his other works before. I also know almost nothing about the Johnstown flood, so I feel like I can read it from a fresh perspective, getting lost in the story.<\/p>\n With that said, I do not think that McCullough properly places blame while assessing the flood. After reading about many different disasters, their causes, and effects in class, I feel like blame cannot be solely placed on one person or one group of people. A mix of unexpectedness and unpreparedness definitely contributes to disasters, but I do not feel as though a sole party is at fault, especially in the case of the Johnstown flood. McCullough argues that the elites were responsible for the flood, but another historian could argue that the lack of proper building codes that have yet to be put in place by the government. If I were looking at the disaster as a stand alone, I might, like jewarren<\/a>, place blame on a sole party, but because I have studied multiple different disasters up to this point in the course, I’m much more wary of quickly trying to find a specific cause of the catastrophe. I think McCullough is a great historian and writer, but I am not even sure if I agree with what is on the back cover, which hints at placing blame on the elites, but I guess that making a bold claim makes for more interesting writing, whether or not you agree with it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As I was reading the first three chapters of The Johnstown Flood, I felt like I was reading literature, not history. I knew McCullough had the ability to do this, though, as I have read his other works before. I also know almost nothing about the Johnstown flood, so I feel like I can read … <\/p>\n