June 4, 2022

The 2022 title for the Nashua Public Library’s annual Nashua Reads: One City, One Book program is Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo.

Stephen Puleo will visit the library on Sunday, October 2, at 2 p.m. The event is free, but registration is required; go to tinyurl.com/nashuareads.

The author visit is sponsored by the Friends of the Nashua Public Library and the Ella Anderson Trust.

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 20th 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.

Learn more

Get all the details about the Nashua Reads: One City, One Book program at nashuareads.com.