Close to Shore A true Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence by Michael Capuzzo
Publication Date: May 2001
Summary from GoodReads:
Combining rich historical detail and a harrowing, pulse-pounding narrative, Close to Shore brilliantly re-creates the summer of 1916, when a rogue Great White shark attacked swimmers along the New Jersey shore, triggering mass hysteria and launching the most extensive shark hunt in history.
During the summer before the United States entered World War I, when ocean swimming was just becoming popular and luxurious Jersey Shore resorts were thriving as a chic playland for an opulent yet still innocent era’s new leisure class, Americans were abruptly introduced to the terror of sharks. In July 1916 a lone Great White left its usual deep-ocean habitat and headed in the direction of the New Jersey shoreline. There, near the towns of Beach Haven and Spring Lake-and, incredibly, a farming community eleven miles inland-the most ferocious and unpredictable of predators began a deadly rampage: the first shark attacks on swimmers in U.S. history.
For Americans celebrating an astoundingly prosperous epoch much like our own, fueled by the wizardry of revolutionary inventions, the arrival of this violent predator symbolized the limits of mankind’s power against nature.
Interweaving a vivid portrait of the era and meticulously drawn characters with chilling accounts of the shark’s five attacks and the frenzied hunt that ensued, Michael Capuzzo has created a nonfiction historical thriller with the texture of Ragtime and the tension of Jaws. From the unnerving inevitability of the first attack on the esteemed son of a prosperous Philadelphia physician to the spine-tingling moment when a farm boy swimming in Matawan Creek feels the sandpaper-like skin of the passing shark, Close to Shore is an undeniably gripping saga.
Heightening the drama are stories of the resulting panic in the citizenry, press and politicians, and of colorful personalities such as Herman Oelrichs, a flamboyant millionaire who made a bet that a shark was no match for a man (and set out to prove it); Museum of Natural History ichthyologist John Treadwell Nichols, faced with the challenge of stopping a mythic sea creature about which little was known; and, most memorable, the rogue Great White itself moving through a world that couldn’t conceive of either its destructive power or its moral right to destroy.
Scrupulously researched and superbly written, Close to Shore brings to life a breathtaking, pivotal moment in American history. Masterfully written and suffused with fascinating period detail and insights into the science and behavior of sharks, Close to Shore recounts a breathtaking, pivotal moment in American history with startling immediacy.
Confession:
I first learned about this particular story from a middle grade novel in the I survived series by Lauren Tarshis. I read and enjoyed that one a long time ago, but the interesting fact about a shark swimming so far up a river and attacking people fascinated me. I kept meaning to learn more about it, but just never got around to it. When I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it.
Mr Capuzzo’s descriptions of life in 1916 were fascinating. All of the different social classes, how people got to the beach, what life was like in the cities in the summer (no air conditioning!), train travel and more. He perhaps spends a bit more on all of this than was necessary, but it did help to explain the people and the reactions to the attacks. I also really liked the chapters that were kind of from the shark’s point of view. What it was seeing in the ocean and a possible reason for the attacks, mostly based on what we know about sharks now. It was interesting to see how little they knew about sharks back then and how much more we know now.
Mr Capuzzo also went into quite a bit of detail about the people who were attacked and some of the brave people who tried to help them. It made the attacks a bit more real, knowing a bit about the people’s lives. It might have been nice to have included some pictures of both the places where the attacks occured, and of the people involved. I did like the map at the beginning of the book and referred to it often.
The ending of the book was quite exciting as the hunt for the shark responsible heated up. They never conclusively caught a shark the size that was described by witnesses. But a large shark was caught with some human remains inside. The author leaves it up to you to decide whether or not that was the correct shark. There is also some controversy that there was more than one shark responsible for all of the attacks. The author seems to conclude that there was only one, but presents the evidence that the river attacks were more likely done by a bull shark rather than a great white.
I have never been a sit on the beach, swim in the ocean kind of person (fair skin and I can’t swim), and I am old enough to have seen Jaws in the movie theater when it came out which made me more unlikely to go to the beach. But I have always been a little fascinated with the creatures that live in the ocean, even the ones that might want to eat me. This book didn’t help that fear, but I still found it quite fascinating, especially the descriptions of life in the early 1900’s.
If you have any interests in sharks, the ocean, or what life was like in the early 1900s in the US, this is a book you might want to take a look at. It is very well researched and well written. It is a fascinating look at the first recorded shark attacks in the US and of the people involved.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
Great review. This sounds really fascinating. Like you, I’ve never been one for swimming in the sea but this would definitely put me off even more.
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Thanks, I like the sea the best in the off seasons, especially when it is stormy!
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How fascinating. I’ve never heard about this event but now I’m interested to learn more. Great review.
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Thanks. It is a very interesting piece of history.
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