Clive Carter - The Blizzard of '91

reviewed live on bookshow by Maggie Perkovic 20th March 2014.  This is her review:
This is a page turner if you like. He is referring to 1891 when Cornwall and Devon,
Somerset in fact the West Country was swept by a blizzard with ferocity unparelled in local
memory, bringing death, destruction and chaos to counties totally unprepared for it.
What made the blizzard  a killer was not so much the snow which built up into drifts
sometimes 20 foot high, but an easterly wind of hurricane force that rose at noon on
the ninth of March raged unabated until dusk on the tenth.
Over 200 lives were lost, the majority at sea where 63 known ships foundered between
the Goodwins and the Isles of Scilly. Upwards of 6000 sheep and lambs dies in Devon
and Cornwall alone, half a million trees were brought down forests and woodlands
suffered damage that took generations to restore.
It affected Railways, the roads and of course Shipping, but it also shows the bravery of men and women who worked together to assist and rescue their fellows in need.
They were nearly into April before the thaw started, and of course that brought yet
more problems!!!The hills were still covered in snow when May arrived!!
A riveting read, with even a picture of Scilly with snow just beginning to melt!!!
Loved it.
Maggie Perkovic.