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Title: Niagara: A History of the Falls by Pierre Berton, Philip Turner ISBN: 1-56836-154-8 Publisher: Kodansha International Pub. Date: January, 1997 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Came for the Daredevils and Got an Education
Comment: The subtitle here says it all -- this is truly a history of the Falls, beginning back with the Ice Age, although that pre-history is dispensed with quickly. Berton is an easy, if not compelling read. I learned a whole lot more than necessary about the machinations of the power players in the early hydroelectric industry in Niagara. Amidst all that detail, however, Berton properly highlights the importance of the Falls to industrial development in both the United States and Canada, a fact easily overlooked in the popular image of Niagara. My own Falls memories include being thirteen and reading in 1960 the next day's Buffalo newspapers about the boy who accidentally went over the Falls in his bathing suit and survived, the only person ever to do so. The history Berton draws of the man's life after that miracle made interesting reading, as did the reasons the first person to survive going over in a barrel had for doing so. There is a full panoply here of fools, stoic rescuers (and body retrievers), and shysters, but I found Berton's efforts to be exhaustive sometimes obscured the lure and power that makes Niagara the popular fascination it has always been. That said, I know much more about Niagara than I did before and would recommend this as a quick summer read to anyone with curiosity about this natural, and -- Berton makes clear -- ever-changing wonder.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Rise and Falls of Niagara
Comment: "Niagara" is a nice little book, stringing together a series of anecdotes about Niagara Falls and its immediate region, especially from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th century. As histories go, it is fairly light (the author does not cite his facts, although he does include an extensive bibliography), but Pierre Berton is adept at telling stories, especially human stories.
The stories mostly develop along one of two themes - daredevil encounters with the Falls, and human manipulation, either for the purpose of exploitation or protection of the Falls. Berton is best with the small stories of explorers, tightrope walkers, barrel riders, a family of "rivermen" (the Hills), and their ilk. The small becomes large with what is perhaps the best-crafted story, that of Lois Gibbs and the toxic tragedy of Love Canal, with which Berton ends the book.
Although the story of the Falls did not end in 1980, Love Canal is a fitting final story. Despite the occasional preservationist triumphs, the story of the Falls really culminates in Love Canal. The natural wonder of the Falls became framed by hucksters, factories, power stations, tacky museums, homes, roads, manicured parks and everything else unnatural. Engineers even managed to stop the falls in an attempt to clear out fallen rocks (they wisely chose not to once they realized that the rocks propped up the rock face behind the falls). A visit to the Falls today is a jarring reminder of what a mess we humans have made of the natural world. It is an obscene juxtaposition of nature's best and humanity's chintziest.
Berton is less skilled at relaying scientific stories about the formation of the falls, and the energy and chemical industries. He also seems less than passionate when writing about big business deals - his treatment of power-mavens Adam Beck and Robert Moses palls beside his treatment of activist Lois Gibbs or "riverman" Red Hill. As a result, the book is somewhat inconsistent and (ironically, considering the subject matter) does not always flow.
Conspicuously missing from "Niagara" is ancient Native American history and the eventful history of the last 20 years. The former may not be possible to write for lack of information, but the latter (which includes the establishment of a gambling casino overlooking the Falls) warrants an update. Also lacking is some of the political history surrounding the Falls. For all these reasons, this is more a three-and-a-half star book than a full four star book. But I'm givivng it four because it was fun to read and provided me, as a native of Western New York, with some history of my home region. I'm not sure how interesting all this will be for those with no personal experience of the Falls, but for those of us who do, its worth reading.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent anecdotal history of Niagara Falls
Comment: If you're curious about Niagara Falls, and want to know more about its geological and social history told in an highly engaging narrative style, this book is highly recommended. All aspects of the area and the natural phenomenon known as Niagara Falls is covered, with detailed stories about both the New York and Canadian sides. Interesting illustrations complement the text. Included are a wide range of topics, including the stories of the daredevils who tried to conquer the Falls to the more serious subject of Love Canal.
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Title: In the Mad Water: Two Centuries of Adventure and Lunacy at Niagara Falls by T. W. Kriner ISBN: 0965724514 Publisher: J & J Pub Pub. Date: September, 1999 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Journeys to the Brink of Doom: True Stories of Disaster, Mystery and Heroism at Niagara Falls by T. W. Kriner ISBN: 0965724506 Publisher: J & J Pub Pub. Date: June, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Saving America's Wildlife : Ecology and the American Mind, 1850-1990 by Thomas Dunlap ISBN: 069100613X Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 February, 1991 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: City of Light by LAUREN BELFER ISBN: 0385337647 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Ecological Indian: Myth and History by Shepard Krech, Shepard, III Krech ISBN: 0393321002 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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