Dark Tide by Stephen Puleo is the selection for the 2022 Nashua Reads: One City, One Book program.

• Meet Stephen Puleo on Sunday, October 2
• Join us for other Nashua Reads events related to the themes of Dark Tide.

About the book

Shortly after noon on January 15, 1919, a 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses collapsed on Boston’s waterfront, disgorging its contents in a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that traveled at 35 miles per hour. The Great Boston Molasses Flood claimed the lives of 21 people and caused widespread destruction.

Dark Tide uses the gripping drama of the flood to examine the sweeping changes brought about by World War I, Prohibition, the anarchist movement, immigration, and the expanding role of big business in society. To understand the flood is to understand America in the early twentieth century.

The book chronicles the courage of ordinary people, from the fire fighters caught in an unimaginable catastrophe to the soldier-lawyer who presided over the lawsuit with heroic impartiality.

About the author

Stephen Puleo has published seven narrative history books and is at work on his eighth. His books have been Boston regional bestsellers and have been reviewed favorably by the Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, Boston Globe, New York Post, Parade magazine, National Review, and numerous other publications.

Steve has made more than 600 appearances since the publication of Dark Tide in 2003. His books have been woven into the curricula of high schools and colleges, and nearly 25 communities have selected them for community reads.

He is the past recipient of the prestigious i migliori award, presented by the Pirandello Lyceum to Italian-Americans who have excelled in their fields of endeavor.

Steve and his wife, Kate, live south of Boston and donate a portion of his book proceeds to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Get your copy now

The library has plenty of copies of Dark Tide, so reserve yours and pick it up at the library. Read it; talk about it with your friends, coworkers, and neighbors; and then meet the author with us this fall.

Our sponsors

Stephen Puleo’s appearance is sponsored by:

• The Friends of the Nashua Public Library
• The Ella Anderson Trust

Questions?

For more information about Nashua Reads, contact Holly Klump at (603) 589-4633 or holly.klump@nashualibrary.org. 

About Nashua Reads: One City, One Book

The goal of the One City, One Book program is to get as many Nashuans as possible to read the same book and talk about it with friends, coworkers, and neighbors. The Nashua program is now in its 20th year.