Disasters!

[AuntiePam]

I don't read much non-fiction but I'm fascinated by earthquakes, fires, floods, plagues and how people reacted to these events.

Two of my favorites are The Great Mortality (plague) by John Kelly and The Worst Hard Time (Dust Bowl) by Timothy Egan.

Another good one is The Ghost Map (cholera) by Steven Johnson.

Nothing like historical disasters to make us appreciate clean drinking water, modern medicine, and even the Department of Homeland Security.

[Rowan]

Interesting topic, Auntie Pam. Yesterday I went to the opening of a new Borders Books here in town and my friend and I sat in a corner on a lovely leather bench to wait for one of the events only to find a huge book someone had left behind about all of the diseases ever to strike mankind. Some I'd never even heard of...

[Ash]

Try Children's Blizzard, the story of a little known tragic episode in the midwest (area and era escape me). The Perfect Storm was amazing, and I just finished reading Simon Wincesters book about the SF earthquake 'A Crack in the World' (see if you can find the hardback. The jacket cover opens up to show a full front page news story of the event)