[BenG]

You might like In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. It's the true story that inspired Moby Dick.
Or perhaps you would enjoy The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin. This the story of an event little known outside the Midwest. A freak blizzard in the 1880's left hundreds dead and disillusioned many immigrant's hopes of America as a kind of promised land. By the turn of the century 60% of the pioneers had left the plains.