“The author’s enthusiasm shines on every page. . . . Even now, the storm’s traces are there if you know how to find them. The great hurricane is still with us and probably always will be. Long has done us the favor of creating a new way to think about it.”—John Ruddy, Day
“Long’s really done his homework, and it shows.”—Willem Lange, Valley News
“An all-inclusive rendition of one of the most destructive storms in the northeastern United States’ modern history.”—Virginia Dean, Vermont Standard
“An excellent account.”—Alan Bisbort, Republican-American
“Thirty-Eight, like so many historical books, is also a cautionary tale about the future, and Mr. Long sounds his warning with characteristic punch… You see here the common-sense approach which stops his thoughtful effusion from being just another shrill cry of alarm, and which leavens his informed concerns about how changes in factors from population and urban growth to climate change might make the next superhurricane even more damaging.
There are plenty of surprising points of light to enliven what might have been too dry a narrative on so many grave topics. Mr. Long is too good a writer, his wit too nimble and his prose too sparkling to write a book that can be dull for very long.”—Martin Rubin in The Washington Times
“Millions of acres of trees — of which 70 percent were eastern white pine — were uprooted. Vermont resident Stephen Long puts the numbers in context in Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane that Transformed New England. Even if the environmental impact of the hurricane doesn’t interest you, the first-person accounts make fascinating reading.”— Jan Gardner in Boston Globe
“Stephen Long clearly and dramatically, and sometimes with droll humor details the mayhem produced by torrential rain followed by winds that gusted to nearly 200 miles an hour on Blue Hill, south of Boston. He serves up a mix of regional history, meteorology, botany, ecology, politics, economics—all seasoned with anecdotes. ”— Robert Whitcomb in The Weekly Standard
“Thirty-Eight illuminates the great hurricane from a unique, compelling—maybe even urgent—perspective. With humor, scholarship and insight, Stephen Long helps the reader understand how important the white pine forests are to New England. You’ll never look at a windstorm or a fallen tree the same way.”—Stewart O’Nan, author of The Circus Fire
“A very few of my neighbors still remember the ‘38 hurricane, and they speak of it as though it was a demonic attack on their understanding of the world. This, remember, was before Pearl Harbor. Surprises this destructive didn’t happen. Stephen Long not only brings this storm alive again, he gives us a completely new concept. Hurricanes don’t just come and go; they can transform an entire region for many years to come. And so this is not just history; it’s a cautionary tale of what the future may have in store.”—Carl Safina, author of A Sea in Flames
“A must-read for anyone interested in forest succession, weather patterns, and the history of New England.”—Bernd Heinrich, author of The Trees in My Forest
“I could not imagine a more appropriate, indeed precedent-setting integration of science and regional history. The ‘38 hurricane is truly a touchstone in New England history and this is the first book to do it justice.”—Charlie Cogbill, author of The Changing Nature of the Maine Woods
“Thirty-Eight is New England’s greatest missing story, because this massive hurricane transformed landscapes, lives, and minds and continues to reverberate through the region today.”—David Foster, author of Hemlock: Forest Giant on the Edge
“A wonderfully written account of an ecologically and socially transformative event that continues to shape the development of New England’s forests and serves as an important point of reflection on disaster preparedness and appropriate management response.”—Anthony D’Amato, University of Vermont