The great Halifax explosion : a World War I story of treachery, tragedy, and extraordinary heroism

The Resource The great Halifax explosion : a World War I story of treachery, tragedy, and extraordinary heroism
Label
The great Halifax explosion : a World War I story of treachery, tragedy, and extraordinary heroism
Title remainder
a World War I story of treachery, tragedy, and extraordinary heroism
Statement of responsibility
John U. Bacon
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
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
Cataloging source
YDX
Dewey number
971.6/22503
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • plates
Index
index present
LC call number
F1039.5.H17
LC item number
B33 2017
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography

Context

Context of The great Halifax explosion : a World War I story of treachery, tragedy, and extraordinary heroism

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