The Halifax Explosion: Canada's Worst Disaster
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About this ebook
On December 6, 1917, the French munitions ship Mont Blanc and the Norwegian war-relief vessel Imo collided in the harbour at Halifax, Nova Scotia. That accident sparked a fire and an apocalyptic explosion that was the largest man-made blast prior to the 1945 dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Together with the killer tsunami that followed, the explosion devastated the entire city in the wink of an eye and instantly killed more than two thousand people.
While much has been written about the disaster, there is still more to the story, including the investigation of the key figures involved, the histories of the ships that collided and the confluence of circumstances that brought these two vessels together to touch off one of the most tragic man-made disasters of the twentieth century.
The Halifax Explosion is a fresh, revealing account that finally answers questions that have lingered for a century: Was the explosion a disaster triggered by simple human error? Was it caused by the negligence of the ships’ pilots or captains? Was it the result of shortcomings in harbour practices and protocols? Or was the blast—as many people at the time insisted—the result of sabotage carried out by wartime German agents?
December 6, 2017, marks the centennial of the great Halifax explosion. The Halifax Explosion tells the gripping, as-yet untold story of Canada’s worst disaster—a haunting tale of survival, incredible courage and, ultimately, the triumph of the human spirit.
Ken Cuthbertson
KEN CUTHBERTSON is a veteran journalist with forty years’ experience writing for publications in Canada, the US and the UK. A finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, he is the bestselling author of six books, including the critically acclaimed The Halifax Explosion: Canada’s Worst Disaster. Ken Cuthbertson lives in Kingston, Ontario, and has deep maternal roots in Nova Scotia.
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Reviews for The Halifax Explosion
5 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book tells the story of the December, 1917 explosion in Halifax harbour. This collision between two ships, one loaded with explosives, remains Canada's worst disaster. The explosion destroyed much of the city and killed over 2,000 people, wounding many others.Historian Ken Cuthbertson explains in detail what led to the collision. He paints a vivid picture of the people involved, including some of the ordinary citizens who were killed, or saw their families and homes destroyed by the blaze. He also describes the resulting inquiry, set in the context of the politics of the day and the ongoing war. I like the way the author highlighted specific individuals, making the book a page-turner as I wanted to know who survived. I also like the way he told us how many of the main actors lived and died after the explosion.A thorough, well written description of this sad event in our history.