David Brown already had several books to his name when he burst upon the scene in maritime circles with his awesome book on the Titanic disaster, The Last Log of the Titanic. His style of writing is gripping, bringing the story he is telling right into the reader’s mind, allowing them to practically feel as if they were living the events as they unfold. Coupled with this flair for words is a gift for explaining technical jargon and complicated concepts in a easy to understand, straightforward format that gives the reader an instant grasp of what might otherwise be convoluted material. This combination makes for a reading experience as educational as it is thrilling. The kind of you-just-can’t-put-it-down book that is more typically found in the best fiction writing.

With White Hurricane, the author once again uses his unique talents to bring another powerful nautical drama to life. The time is November, 1913, just 19 months after the Titanic disaster. The place is the Great Lakes region of the United States, five great bodies of water that represent the largest accumulation of fresh water in the world. The event was a sequence of freak weather patterns that conspired to create the single most severe storm to ever hit the region. From practically one day to the next weather in the area went from an unusually warm autumn to a blinding, frozen hell, with massive amounts of snow, freezing temperatures, and incredibly powerful winds.

Brown follows the course of this incredible week of weather on a day by day basis. He jumps from lake to lake and ship to ship as the situation steadily worsens, bringing the reader right into the lives of the men and women as they slowly began to realize that they were facing a storm beyond anyone’s previous experience. As powerful as this format is, there is the disadvantage that the story skips around a great deal, sometimes making it hard to keep track of who was where.

Fortunately the author includes several excellent maps of the Great Lakes at the front of the book. The first is a two-page overview map of how the lakes are geographically laid out. Following are several smaller maps showing more detail of each lake. If you are not knowledgeable with this area of the U.S., familiarizing yourself with the maps before starting into the text will help tremendously in keeping you centered with what is happening where as the pace of the story, like the weather, explodes. I found myself referring back to the maps constantly as I read further into the book for exactly this reason.

The countryside surrounding the lakes, from the largest cities to the most rural outposts were inundated by so much ice and snow that they were brought to a virtual standstill. Seaside towns had their waterfronts and breakwaters devastated. Power, telephone and telegraph lines snapped everywhere due to the heavy accumulations of ice, along with the raging winds blowing steadily harder and harder. Wind speeds raced from 50 to 70 miles per hour and beyond. It truly was a white hurricane.

But as bad as it was on land, it was much worse on the water, where the real drama was occurring aboard the ships caught in the teeth of the gale. Winds on the lakes blasted up to 90 miles an hour. Waves towered above the wheel houses, and could smash steel plating as if it were kindling. Ice froze on every surface, threatening the stability of vessels already being battered by the heaving water. Before it was over 12 ships were lost, another 30 were left beached or stranded, and almost 250 sailors lost their lives.

Which ships lived and which died depended on a host of factors. Captains and their crews pushed their skills to the limits to try and ride out the storm. Many succeeded through a combination of masterful sailing combined with just a dash of luck. Others, despite their best efforts never lived to see land again. The dangers were astonishingly more complex than comparable storms out in the deep oceans. At least there, one could ride out a storm, racing before the wind until the weather finally wore itself out. On the Great Lakes, that was not an option, as land was never more than a couple hundred miles away, often very much closer. Several ships were forced to come about, risking capsizing as they turned broadside into the waves. But it was either that or be blown right onto a rocky coastline.

Many ships couldn’t avoid these obstacles, and ended up stranded upon the rocks. The rescue efforts of the life saving stations add another incredible element of bravery to the mix. This fight for survival, who won and who lost, is what makes for such gripping reading.

The book wraps up with several useful appendixes including a geographical description of each of the lakes, and a Great Lakes glossary explaining nautical terms, as the lingo on the freshwater lakes is somewhat different from their saltwater counterparts. There is also a two and a half page bibliography and an index.