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The great Halifax explosion : a World War I story of treachery, tragedy, and extraordinary heroism / John U. Bacon.

by Bacon, John U., 1964-

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HarperLuxe, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2017.

LP 971.6225 B128g

Halifax Explosion, Halifax, N.S., 1917.

Explosions -- Nova Scotia -- Halifax -- History -- 20th century.

Disasters -- Nova Scotia -- Halifax.

Halifax Harbour (N.S.) -- History.

Halifax (N.S.) -- History -- 20th century.

9780062686992 (pbk.)

Alternate title:

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

First HarperLuxe large print edition.

ix, 619 pages (large print), 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits ; 23 cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"The story of history's largest manmade explosion before the atomic bomb, and its world-changing aftermath. 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. 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 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. Author John U. Bacon teaches at Northwestern University."--Provided by publisher.

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