Historic Storms of New England, first published in 1891, graphically describes every major storm and natural disaster in the region from 1635 to 1890.
September and October are hurricane season in New England, and there may be no better book on the subject than this once-out-of-print gem. In Perley's exhaustive history of New England storms, hurricanes are hardly the half of it. A sampling from the table of contents:
* The earthquake of 1638 (the first in recorded New England history) * The "strange appearance in the heavens" in 1667 * the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah * the "great freshet" (spring flood) of 1770 * An avalanche in the White Mountains and destruction of the Willey family * the cyclone at Lawrence, Mass., in 1890
Over seventy storms, incidents, and anecdotes (amusing and pathetic!) are described in detail; many are newly illustrated.
