The Vortex

A True Story of History’s Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation

De: Scott Carney, Jason Miklian

Narrado por: Vikas Adam

The deadliest storm in modern history ripped Pakistan in two and led the world to the brink of nuclear war when American and Soviet forces converged in the Bay of Bengal

In November 1970, a storm set a collision course with the most densely populated coastline on Earth. Over the course of just a few hours, the Great Bhola Cyclone would kill 500,000 people and begin a chain reaction of turmoil, genocide, and war. The Vortex is the dramatic story of how that storm sparked a country to revolution.

Bhola made landfall during a fragile time, when Pakistan was on the brink of a historic election. The fallout ignited a conflagration of political intrigue, corruption, violence, idealism, and bravery that played out in the lives of tens of millions of Bangladeshis. Authors Scott Carney and Jason Miklian take us deep into the story of the cyclone and its aftermath, told through the eyes of the men and women who lived through it, including the infamous president of Pakistan, General Yahya Khan, and his close friend Richard Nixon; American expats Jon and Candy Rhode; soccer star-turned-soldier Hafiz Uddin Ahmad; and a young Bengali revolutionary, Mohammed Hai.

Thrillingly paced and written with incredible detail, The Vortex is not just a story about the painful birth of a new nation but also a universal tale of resilience and liberation in the face of climate emergency that affects every single person on the planet.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

too visceral

I'm two-thirds through and learned a lot that I knew nothing about before. The book takes some liberties to be engaging, which I get because I am not sure I would have gotten into it otherwise. But at this point it is just getting too hard to finish emotionally. And because it takes some liberties on dialgoue I am concerned the things that will stick with me are not things that actually happened.

The best read -

An incredible read with different stories of a triumphant war, deception and a forgotten genocide.

Fascinating story that most people have never heard of.

This story is fascinating. I was largely uninformed about the cyclone and the birth of Bangladesh. Of course I knew about the famine, as did everyone alive at the time. This book fills in the whole picture, from the storm to the international intrigue. The level of detail is astounding. For instance we are told in exquisite detail about Nixon's liquor supply with the bottle of Courvoisier that was gifted to him by his wife, Henry Kissenger's diarrhea, and the most personal thoughts of a freedom fighter who thought he was dying. I have never read a history so replete with such fine detail. The narrator does a fantastic job of conveying the melodrama of the writing so that sometimes it's like reading the most fantastical work of fiction, even though this is a true story. I don't know how the writer managed to get so deeply into the minds of the actual human beings who lived this.

Entertaining story of frightening true events

The Vortex is an incredible story that's more than just a highly entertaining read. It's an historically accurate account of events not many people have ever heard of; how Bangladesh became a sovereign nation. I was initially interested in the aspect of how a climatic catastrophe can alter history. With climate change happening before our eyes in real time, this book is a must read.

The Vortex is also a witty and entertaining story. I'm an avid audiobook listener and for me, the narrator can "make or break" my whole experience with the book. I had never listened to Vikas Adams read a book, but he is actually a really good narrator. He has a good pace and an authentic pronunciation for the south Asian names and phrases. But he does this without overwhelming someone like me who can't pronounce these myself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Hopefully Scott Carney and Jason Miklian will write another book about a topic I know nothing about.

Amazing-Broad Implications

Must read! Incredible treatment of an overlooked and misunderstood era in the Global Cold War and Climate History.