Subtitle: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919

What a subtitle, right? That alone made me want to read this book.

I was visiting a bookstore in Boston and the manager recommended this book. I’m a sucker for a great recommendation and met some of my favorite books that way. You want a great book, ask a bookseller.

Molasses flood – sounds funny, right? Like something out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Elmer Fudd stuck to the ground by a sticky mess?

Turns out, it’s not funny. In 1919, they used molasses industrially and had a huge water-tower near the docks to store it. Of course, in a low-income neighborhood. The story starts innocuously enough, with children spying the molasses leaking out of the tower, scraping it off with sticks for a sweet treat.

But, turns out, industrial molasses is explosive. And the “water” tower wasn’t built to spec. And it explodes, causing a huge flood of molasses that kills people and horses, who drown or suffocate in the sticky flood. Including some of those same sweet-seeking tots.

Being 1919, the investigation runs immediately winders if the disaster was caused by anarchists or war saboteurs. Anarchists were a big thing then, with Sacco and Vanzetti and the Wall Street cart bombing happening just a year later. So it was a plausible question.

But the answer was much more familiar to us: greed. Sloppy craftsmanship. Big business that doesn’t care about the little guy.

This is a great read, paints a clear picture of what immigrants were up against at the time, the origins and uses of industrial molasses, and the mind-set of early 20th century America. The writing is engaging – anyone who can make you care about industrial molasses, can write.

Give it a shot.

And, when a bookseller recommends something, give it a shot.