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Blackouts—whether they result from military planning, network failure, human error, or terrorism—offer snapshots of electricity's increasingly central role in American society.
Starred Review.
This captivating book zooms in with a telescopic intensity on America's blackouts, from the 1930s to the massive 2003 Northeast power failure that had many suspecting terrorism; anyone who reads this history will be unsurprised to find it was actually due to an over-burdened power grid. Beyond familiar individual frustrations, a blackout can cause major social and economic disturbance, signal political problems, and represent a massive failure of infrastructure; American history professor Nye contextualizes power failures in the U.S. as the result of long-term energy buildup and overuse. Nye examines how a "utopian" vision of electrical convenience at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair-television sets, movie equipment, a "clothes conditioning closet," the home computer-became law ("in building codes and in the 'war on poverty' electricity became a legal requirement akin to a natural right") and how, when that right is denied, utopia can give way to chaos. Nye captures the disastrous 1977 New York City blackout in its broad causes, effects, and implications, as well as its small, frightening details: "Guests of the Algonquin Hotel found that electronic locks had sealed their doors." Other chapters discuss rolling blackouts and activist-driven "greenouts." Fans of urban studies will find this text rich with insight and information. 26 illus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Fred Jaffe
reviewed When the Lights Went Out: A History of Blackouts in America on February 27, 2021
When the Lights Went Out: A History of Blackouts in America
This book's strength is its bringing together of all the relevant research about the sociological impact of blackouts in North America in the 20th and 21st centuries. I found many good leads thanks to Nye's hard work. He synthesizes all this information very well. I guess my only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen more of his own insights. It felt more like he was curating information rather than commanding it.
I suppose it is also quite good on discussing the economic side of blackouts, though I'm less interested in that.
I read other reviews from the engineering perspective, complaining that Nye is not practical enough. I don't think that is a fair criticism. Nye is a historian of technology. His focus is entirely appropriate given his expertise.
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