The Great Halifax Explosion
eBook - ePub

The Great Halifax Explosion

A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism

  1. 432 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Great Halifax Explosion

A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism

About this book

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

The "riveting" (National Post) tick-tock account of the largest manmade explosion in history prior to the atomic bomb, and the equally astonishing tales of survival and heroism that emerged from the ashes

“Enthralling. ... Gripping. ... A captivating and emotionally investing journey.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After steaming out of New York City on December 1, 1917, laden with a staggering three thousand tons of TNT and other explosives, the munitions ship Mont-Blanc fought its way up the Atlantic coast, through waters prowled by enemy U-boats. As it approached the lively port city of Halifax, Mont-Blanc's deadly cargo erupted with the force of 2.9 kilotons of TNT—the most powerful explosion ever visited on a human population, save for HIroshima and Nagasaki. Mont-Blanc was vaporized in one fifteenth of a second; a shockwave leveled the surrounding city. Next came a thirty-five-foot tsunami. Most astounding of all, however, were the incredible tales of survival and heroism that soon emerged from the rubble.

This is the unforgettable story told in John U. Bacon's The Great Halifax Explosion: a ticktock account of fateful decisions that led to doom, the human faces of the blast's 11,000 casualties, and the equally moving individual stories of those who lived and selflessly threw themselves into urgent rescue work that saved thousands.

The shocking scale of the disaster stunned the world, dominating global headlines even amid the calamity of the First World War. Hours after the blast, Boston sent trains and ships filled with doctors, medicine, and money. The explosion would revolutionize pediatric medicine; transform U.S.-Canadian relations; and provide physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who studied the Halifax explosion closely when developing the atomic bomb, with history's only real-world case study demonstrating the lethal power of a weapon of mass destruction.

Mesmerizing and inspiring, Bacon's deeply-researched narrative brings to life the tragedy, bravery, and surprising afterlife of one of the most dramatic events of modern times.

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Yes, you can access The Great Halifax Explosion by John U. Bacon in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Historical Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Map
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Part I: A Forgotten Story
  7. Part II: O Canada
  8. Part III: The Great War
  9. Part IV: A Dangerous Dance
  10. Part V: 9:04:35 A.M.
  11. Part VI: Help
  12. Part VII: Rebuilding
  13. Part VIII: Facing the Future
  14. Acknowledgments
  15. Bibliography
  16. Source Notes
  17. Index
  18. Photos Section
  19. About the Author
  20. Credits
  21. Copyright
  22. About the Publisher