In the Shadow of the Dam: The Aftermath of the Mill River Flood of 1874
Language: English
Published by Free Press (edition ), 2007
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: BooksRun, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.BooksRun
AbeBooks seller since February 2, 2016
Condition: Used - Fair
£ 4.71
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
The item might be beaten up but readable. May contain markings or highlighting, as well as stains, bent corners, or any other major defect, but the text is not obscured in any way.
Seller Inventory # 1416572643-7-1-13
- Title
- In the Shadow of the Dam: The Aftermath of the Mill River Flood of 1874
- Author
- Sharpe, Elizabeth M.
- Publisher
- Free Press (edition )
- Publication year
- 2007
- Condition
- Fair
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1416572643
- ISBN 13
- 9781416572640
In this compelling tale of a man-made disaster peopled with everyday heroes and arrogant scoundrels, Elizabeth Sharpe opens a rare window into industry and village life in nineteenth-century New England, a time when dam failures and other industrial accidents were widespread and laws favored factory owners rather than factory workers. In the Mill Valley, the townsfolk depended upon generally benevolent patriarchs who assured them that the dam was safe, when most people could see that it was not.
The story of the Mill River flood is the story of those townsfolk: of George Cheney, the dam keeper whose repeated warnings about leaks in the dam had been ignored by the mill owners; of his wife, Elizabeth, who watched in disbelief as the dam burst open from the bottom; of Isabell Hayden, the mother who saw her young son swept away in the river's torrent; and of Fred Howard, a box maker who spent the days after the flood searching for bodies, burying friends, and waiting to see if the button factory he relied upon for his livelihood would be rebuilt. It is also the story of the well-meaning but overconfident businessmen who built the dam: of Onslow Spelman, the manufacturer who dismissed the dam keeper's flood warning, irrationally insisting that the dam could not break; of Lucius Fenn and Joel Bassett, the engineer and contractor whose roles in the construction of the dam would be questioned during the public inquest into the causes of the flood; of William Skinner, the factory owner who struggled to decide whether or not to rebuild his silk factory in the village that bore his name; and of many others.
The flood highlighted class divisions between worker and owner, as well as the disorganized state of professional engineering, then still in its infancy. As the flood exposed the dangers of allowing mill owners -- who were not trained engineers -- to design their own dam, legislation to regulate the building of reservoir dams in Massachusetts was enacted for the first time. Engineers, politicians, and business owners battled over control of the reform measures to prevent similar tragedies, yet saw them continually repeated.
In the Shadow of the Dam is the story of an event that reshaped a society. Told through the eyes of villagers like Collins Graves, lauded as a hero for his desperate ride through the valley to warn people of the impending flood, and industrialists like Joel Hayden Jr., entrusted with the responsibility of disaster relief despite his culpability in failing to maintain the leaking dam, In the Shadow of the Dam is a history of our uneasy relationship with industrial progress and a riveting narrative of a tragic disaster in small-town Massachusetts.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
BooksRun
Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since February 2, 2016
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 3 to 8 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 0.00 | £ 3.01 |
Payment methods
Store description
BooksRun helps save money on books. Founded in 2014, we are an independent online bookseller with thousands of happy customers and top ratings. With millions of titles in stock, from fiction to textbooks, we have the best book selection and prices 90% below the list price. We ship all orders the same day or the next business day. Expedited shipping arrives in 2 - 5 business days. Returns are accepted within 30 days of delivery. We are committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. Please carefully check the book’s description and condition before ordering. If you have any questions or issues, please contact us first. Thank you for choosing BooksRun!…
Specialty
Сollege textbooks and trade booksSeller's business information
AZ Texts LLC
228 Park Ave S Suite 38827
New York, NY U.S.A. 10003
Terms of sale
30 days hassle-free returns guaranteed!
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to BooksRun, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.