Catastrophe : stories and lessons from the Halifax Explosion / T. Joseph Scanlon ; edited by Roger Sarty.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scanlon, Joseph, author.

Contributor:

Sarty, Roger, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

Disaster relief--Nova Scotia--Halifax--History--20th century.

Disaster relief.

Halifax (N.S.)--History.

Halifax (N.S.).

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 online resource)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Waterloo, Ontario : Wilfrid Laurier University Press, [2020]

Summary:

"On December 6, 1917, the Canadian city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was shattered when volatile cargo on the SS Mont-Blanc freighter exploded in the bustling wartime harbour. More than nineteen hundred people were killed and nine thousand injured. Across more than two square kilometres some 1200 homes, factories, schools and churches were obliterated or heavily damaged. Written from a scholarly perspective but in a journalistic style accessible to the general reader, this book explores how the explosion influenced later emergency planning and disaster theory. Rich in firsthand accounts gathered in decades of research in Canada, the US, the UK, France and Norway, the book examines the disaster from all angles. It delivers an inspiring message: the women and men at 'ground zero' responded speedily, courageously, and effectively, fighting fires, rescuing the injured, and sheltering the homeless. The book also shows that the generous assistance that later came from central Canada and the US also brought some unhelpful intrusions by outside authorities. Unable to imagine the horror of the initial crisis, they ignored or even vilified a number of the first responders. This book will be of particular interest to disaster researchers and emergency planners along with journalists, and scholars of history, Maritime studies, and Canadian studies."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: ch. I Samuel Henry Prince

ch. II The Collision

ch. III Response to the Collision

ch. IV The Explosion

ch. V Helping the Victims

ch. VI The Panic That Wasn't

ch. VII Treating the Injured

ch. VIII Organizing the Response

ch. IX The Magnificent Railways

ch. X The Deluge

ch. XI The American Invasion

ch. XII Emergency Hospitals

ch. XIII Social Assistance

ch. XIV The American Legend

ch. XV Dealing with the Dead

ch. XVI Media Distortions

ch. XVII Blaming the French

ch. XVIII Why It Happened

ch. XIX Return to Normalcy

ch. XX Lessons from the Explosion.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781771123730

1771123737

OCLC:

1176371654