Ruthless Tide by Al Roker

In the 1880's a group of steel industry millionaires decided to build a dam just upriver from the industrial city of Johnstown.  They wanted to create a summer recreational area for the proud creators of the Gilded Age.  Known as the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, membership was limited to the likes of Carnegie, Frick and Mellon.  They could have made sure the dam had a means to release water should the need arise.  They could have provided a working spillway.  They did neither.  So on May 31, 1889, following days of torrential rains, the earthen dam gave way devastating the towns below.  Thousands died.  Thousands more lost everything.  Roker draws heavily on the stories left by a core of survivors and other books about the Johnstown flood.  Like many of the other books, there is an emphasis placed on the refusal of the club or its members to accept any responsibility.  The Johnstown Flood was a pivotal event in the way the public and eventually history viewed the wealthy industrialists.  Surprisingly well written, I still think the David McCullough version is my favorite.