The Johnstown Flood

It's been continuously in print since 1968. Mine is an original hardback. Author David McCullough has a mixed catalog. But something about the tragedy of Johnstown brought out his better qualities. His movement between cold hard facts, and first hand accounts mixes seamlessly with his smooth but dark prose.

"The cold was nearly as cruel as it had been the night before. Pitch-blackness closed down over the mountainsides that crowded so close; but across the velley floor bonfires blazed, torches moved among the dark ruins, and the rivers and big pools of dead water were lighted by the fire that raged on at the stone bridge."

It’s all on Google books of course