Hurricane of Independence: The Untold Story of the Deadly Storm at the Deciding Moment of the American Revolution by Tony Williams

Hurricane of Independence: The Untold Story of the Deadly Storm at the Deciding Moment of the American Revolution by Tony Williams is well what the title says. Through the discussion of a hurricane the author discusses the outbreak of the American Revolution in the colony capitols affected [New Bern, Norfolk, Williamsburg, Annapolis, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston]. The hurricane being a historical event I had never heard of before. There's also discussion of a second hurricane that hit the Canadian Maritimes. I found the most interesting part to be on late 18th century science as it related to the study of "tempests". Sometimes it can be hard to realize just how bad technology was just a relatively short time ago. The structure of the book struck me as problematic. There are chapters on each capital that was affected. This means that the same information is often repeated. Like that warehouses near the ocean would be flooded.

I'm not really sure who the expected audience is for this. The writing style is a popular history. Some of the descriptive passages are particularly well done for the genre. There are endnotes and a bibliography. Discussion questions are also included. So possibly aimed at the textbook market for schools?

Mildly recommended.

Note: this book was provided through Mini Book Expo.