Book Description
Before Hiroshima, there was Halifax. In 1917 the busy Canadian port was crowded with ships leaving for war-torn Europe. On December 6, two of them, the Mont Blanc and the Imo, collided in the hard-to-navigate Narrows of the harbor. Within minutes, the Mont Blanc, ablaze, grounded against the city's docks. The explosion that followed would devastate the city and shock the world.
Set against the background of World War I, Curse of the Narrows is the first major account of the world's largest pre-atomic explosion that set in motion a remarkable relief effort originating from Boston.
I found this book to be a detailed account of this true historical event. In the first part of the book we learn exactly how the accident occurred and the devastation that happened in the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth. Within 12 hours of the explosion, a relief train from Boston, Massachusetts with hundreds of volunteers and supplies was bound for Halifax. We learn of the remarkable courage of the people as they searched for survivors and move the dead to a make-shift morgue. On top of everything that happened that day, a major snowstorm arrives and slows down the relief effort as the train from Boston gets caught in major drifts from the storm. The rest of the book deals with the hospitals that were set up by doctors and nurses to handle the victims hurt by the blast, the burials of the dead and the trial of the ships' captains. In the end, we find out how Halifax was rebuild and the memorial service held yearly to commemorate the disaster. Each December the people of Boston also gather to witness the annual lighting of the Christmas tree. Some of them probably do not know that it is a gift from Nova Scotia and the people of Halifax for all their support and help the day of the explosion and many years afterward. I highly recommend this book to those who are interested in historical disasters. I found the book very well written and hard to put down.
Before Hiroshima, there was Halifax. In 1917 the busy Canadian port was crowded with ships leaving for war-torn Europe. On December 6, two of them, the Mont Blanc and the Imo, collided in the hard-to-navigate Narrows of the harbor. Within minutes, the Mont Blanc, ablaze, grounded against the city's docks. The explosion that followed would devastate the city and shock the world.
Set against the background of World War I, Curse of the Narrows is the first major account of the world's largest pre-atomic explosion that set in motion a remarkable relief effort originating from Boston.
I found this book to be a detailed account of this true historical event. In the first part of the book we learn exactly how the accident occurred and the devastation that happened in the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth. Within 12 hours of the explosion, a relief train from Boston, Massachusetts with hundreds of volunteers and supplies was bound for Halifax. We learn of the remarkable courage of the people as they searched for survivors and move the dead to a make-shift morgue. On top of everything that happened that day, a major snowstorm arrives and slows down the relief effort as the train from Boston gets caught in major drifts from the storm. The rest of the book deals with the hospitals that were set up by doctors and nurses to handle the victims hurt by the blast, the burials of the dead and the trial of the ships' captains. In the end, we find out how Halifax was rebuild and the memorial service held yearly to commemorate the disaster. Each December the people of Boston also gather to witness the annual lighting of the Christmas tree. Some of them probably do not know that it is a gift from Nova Scotia and the people of Halifax for all their support and help the day of the explosion and many years afterward. I highly recommend this book to those who are interested in historical disasters. I found the book very well written and hard to put down.
