I enjoyed reading about parts of history that I'd never heard about before. It is sobering to read about unnecessary deaths caused by human greed and poor planning, often at a time when it was not exactly illegal to do the acts that endangered lives. I'm glad that the heroes are included, too, since their work to save lives at the time and/or in the future ended each chapter on a more cheerful note.

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

Clear and concise tellings of disasters that were magnified by natural and man-made events.

3☆

This book was really interesting, it's kinda scary when you read all the man-made disasters that we've caused. I thought the author had done their research well and kept the book interesting.

The industrial era brought many advancements to the world. But with progress comes the risk for things to go horribly wrong. Here is a collection of eight man-made disasters that could have been avoided.

Of the disasters contained in this book, I was only really aware of the one: the 1865 steamship Sultana catastrophe. Even then, I only knew it had happened and not the circumstances surrounding it. With each disaster, the author outlines who the victims were, why it happened, the heroes who tried to help, and the good that came from the situation.

The author narrows down three causes for the eight disasters he outlines: malice (sabotage to a high-speed train in 1939), greed (the Sultana and 1963's Vajont Dam in Italy), and finally hubris (excessive pride or self-confidence) for the other five stories. I would say all of them come down to someone having a gross lack of respect for human life.

Since I read an advance reader copy, I did not see the pictures that will be included in the final version. These, I think, will add something more to the book, and I look forward to seeing these when the book releases.

For readers looking for a sobering look at real-life tragedies, I would recommend this.

Borrowman succinctly writes about eight tragic events that may be lesser known than, say Titanic, but equally catastrophic. He details the events (told in chronological order), the human costs, the causes, and also how these events forged changes to prevent similar situations in the future. This is an exceptional book that I would recommend to readers interested in human nature, true-life calamities, and in history. Thank you to Netgalley for my review copy.

As a person who reads a lot, I wanted to read this book because I love reading about real life things. I love reading about catastrophes and the heroes that help bring life back to normal. This book is just how I envisioned it would be and so much more. The stories captured real life and I can promise you that you won't have to worry about if it really happened or not. Either way I highly suggest reading this book. I do plan on buying it when it comes out so that I can allow my daughter to read it.

Free ARC from Net Galley, the "ship of readers"!!!!!

Note to writers, here is a good example for you. Good prose and pace, 8 disasters with the what, where, and why format. Listen, if it happened it CAN happen only bigger and worse. read and heed here with this GREAT book. Very well done.

This was an excellent delve into forgotten historical events that impacted current regulations. Although the background story was fascinating, the authors intentional focus on the heroes of each incident is what is captivating and brings the human side of tragedy to life

This interesting and informative book examines eight disasters that occurred during the 19th and 20th century. It describes how and why they occurred and the subsequent lessons that were learnt. Failures of design and construction, neglect, hubris, malpractice, greed and even sabotage are encountered here.

Interestingly there is one bridge disaster that occurred not far from where I now live and one still senses a feeling of foreboding when crossing the now entirely safe replacement. Also in the book are stories of the bravery and heroics of the first responders. This proved a most fascinating read and is recommended for those with an interest in history and also an inquisitiveness into how things can go so disastrously wrong.

This is a fascinating book. There are eight different stories illustrating five different elements; an overview of the disaster, the fateful choices that led to the disaster, the consequences, the heroic efforts, and lessons learned. I especially loved learning about the heroes and lessons learned. This is an incredible book and one I highly recommend.

I am naturally interested in disasters and this book did not disappoint. Outside of the Key West Hurricane, I had not read about or known about the catastrophes that the author outlined.
All told there was 8 catastrophes that the author outlined, gave a brief synopsis, and then commented about the heroes who came to the victims' aid.
Overall it was a great, brief read. The author kept it brief and left the reader to explore the event further.
The one drawback that I had was the author's analysis of "malice" after the tragedies.
Some of the catastrophes were without malice. The Key West Hurricane comes to mind, no malice, just ignorance of hurricanes.
Good writing and good development of the 8 tragedies.