In chapters I-III of his work, McCullough describes the many different factors that led to the Johnstown Flood, setting up his depiction of the chaos of the events of the flood itself in chapters IV-VI.\u00a0 Because he takes so much care to set the scene for this disaster early on, McCullough is free to jump around from individual account to individual account when describing the events of the flood.\u00a0 These vignettes are more compelling to me than a single, dry description of the flood\u2019s path of destruction.\u00a0 I found myself rooting for figures like Plummer and his brother, who sacrificed their jobs in defying and gouging Hess and sounding the train\u2019s whistle (115), and mentally scolding Samuel S. Miller for abandoning his post and the passengers on his train, an act McCullough describes as \u201ca good deal less coolheaded and quite a lot more human\u201d (125).<\/p>\n

While I don\u2019t know that I would go as far as to say that McCullough\u2019s \u201chistorical authenticity<\/i> is questionable,\u201d as Price<\/a> argues, I definitely agree that McCullough\u2019s style has a few major drawbacks.\u00a0 I was particularly frustrated with a few of the photos and drawings McCullough chose to include at the end of Chapter IV.\u00a0 McCullough does not provide a satisfying amount of context alongside each image the way a formal essay might.\u00a0 For example, McCullough includes an image of a dead body in trapped in the wreckage of the flood and claims it was fake (137).\u00a0 Here he implies that the photographers staged a photo, but he does not explain why a photographer might have done this\u2014a question that I think would reveal a great deal about the public\u2019s conception of the flood.\u00a0 McCullough sacrifices in-depth analysis for a flowing and captivating narrative.\u00a0 While I wish to defend McCullough\u2019s historical authenticity, I do question his writing style since it leaves out information I think might be helpful to his readers (although admittedly, McCullough does not purport to explain sensationalist reactions to the flood in these chapters, and he does provide some analysis elsewhere).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In chapters I-III of his work, McCullough describes the many different factors that led to the Johnstown Flood, setting up his depiction of the chaos of the events of the flood itself in chapters IV-VI.\u00a0 Because he takes so much care to set the scene for this disaster early on, McCullough is free to jump … <\/p>\n

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