Author: Steven Edwin Laffoley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781897426098
Category : Cholera
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
"On an uncomfortably muggy morning in early autumn, I found myself standing at the far end of a wide, battered wharf in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, looking for a man in knee-high, white rubber boots answering to the name of Captain Red Beard..I'd come in search of a death ship, or at least the historical whispers of a death ship -- an elegant old steamer that limped into Halifax harbour during the early hours of April 9, 1866, with more than a thousand Irish and German emigrants squeezed into its cramped, creaking holds. And I'd come in search of what travelled with them and, in fact, inside many of them: Asiatic cholera. And, finally, I'd come in search of the intertwining tales of those lives inexorably changed by history's worst cholera epidemic, which killed tens of thousands from Mecca to Manhattan to McNab's Island in the mouth of Halifax harbour." So begins another strange and surprising adventure of writer Steven Laffoley as he explores historic McNab's Island in search of Halifax during its time of cholera. As he investigates the rich history of the island and searches for clues to the many dark, cholera-ship tales, Steven confronts the nature of fear and the fear of nature, including fetid marshes, abandoned buildings, a berry-mad bear, a love-starved beaver, a gaggle of naked maidens, and two drunken revolutionaries just looking for some fun. Death Ship of Halifax Harbour is a fascinating and engaging tale of fate, fear and hope.
Author: John U. Bacon
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 006266655X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400
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Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER The "riveting" (National Post) tick-tock account of the largest manmade explosion in history prior to the atomic bomb, and the equally astonishing tales of survival and heroism that emerged from the ashes “Enthralling. ... Gripping. ... A captivating and emotionally investing journey.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 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.
Author: David Flemming
Publisher: Formac Publishing Company
ISBN: 0887806325
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 99
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Book Description
This book offers a definitive account of the Halifax explosion and its aftermath, and the most extensive collection of images - many in colour - available in print.
Author: Craig Ferguson
Publisher: Formac Publishing Company
ISBN: 1459507002
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
Stories from the lives of the notable and the notorious who ended up in Halifax’s five historic downtown cemeteries An amazing array of people have lived – and died – in Halifax since the arrival of English settlers in 1749. In this book author Craig Ferguson recounts the life stories of fascinating characters as well as ordinary people with extraordinary experiences who are buried in downtown Halifax’s historic cemeteries. The book features more than 50 individuals and their adventures — from scoundrels to heroes, children to generals, fire chiefs to pilots, and everything in between. There’s new light cast on the lives of better known Nova Scotians too, including Robert Stanfield, Joseph Howe and Viola Desmond. Harsh realities emerge regarding the city’s past, as Craig Ferguson explores the segregation of African Nova Scotians even after death in a section of the Camp Hill cemetery. This book will engage and inform anyone with an interest in Halifax’s colourful past.
Author: Michael J. Bird
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing (CN)
ISBN: 9781551098425
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
The Town That Died is a moving and detailed account of the greatest human-made explosion before Hiroshima known as the Halifax Explosion. It is told from the personal experiences of survivors, to accurately chronicle the tragic events that led to the ill-fated collision in the harbour narrows and the dreadful consequences.
Author: Dimitry Anastakis
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 144260638X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
Death in the Peaceable Kingdom is an intelligent, innovative response to the incorrect assumption that Canadian history is dry and uninspiring. Using the "hooks" of murder, execution, assassination, and suicide, Dimitry Anastakis introduces readers to the full scope of post-Confederation Canadian history. Beginning with the assassination of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Anastakis recounts the deaths of famous Canadians such as Louis Riel, Tom Thomson, and Pierre Laporte. He also introduces lesser-known events such as the execution of shell-shocked deserter Pte. Harold Carter during the First World War and the suicide of suspected communist Herbert Norman in Cairo during the Cold War. The book concludes with recent Canadian deaths including the suicides of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons as a result of cyberbullying. Complementing the chapters are short vignettes—"Murderous Moments" and "Tragic Tales"—that point to broader themes and issues. The book also contains a number of "Active History" exercises such as activities, assignments, and primary document analyses. A timeline, 24 images, and further reading suggestions are included.
Author: Michael J. Bird
Publisher: London : New English Library
ISBN: 9780450034701
Category : Halifax (N.S.)
Languages : en
Pages : 144
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Book Description
Author: Laura M. Mac Donald
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0802718396
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 370
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Book Description
In 1917, the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was crowded with ships leaving for war-torn Europe. On December 6th, two of them-the Mont Blanc and the Imo-collided in the Narrows, a hard-to-navigate stretch of the harbor. Ablaze, and with explosions on her deck filling the sky, the Mont Blanc grounded against the city's docks. As thousands rushed to their windows and into the streets to watch, she exploded with such force that the 3,121 tons of her iron hull vaporized in a cloud that shot up more than 2,000 feet; the explosion was so unusual that Robert Oppenheimer would study its effects to predict the devastation of an atomic bomb. The blast caused a giant wave that swept over parts of the city, followed by a slick, black rain that fell for ten minutes. Much of the city was flattened, and not one in 12,000 buildings within a 16-mile radius left undamaged. More than 1,600 Haligonians were killed and 6,000 injured; and within twenty-four hours, a blizzard had isolated Halifax from the world. Set vividly against the background of World War I, Curse of the Narrows is the first major account of the world's largest pre-atomic explosion, the epic relief mission from Boston, and the riveting trial of the Mont Blanc's captain and pilot. Laura M. Mac Donald is as adept at describing the dynamics of a chain reaction explosion as she is at chronicling unforgettable human dramas of miraculous survival, unfathomable loss, and the medical breakthroughs in pediatrics and eye surgery that followed the disaster . Using primary sources--many of which haven't been read in decades and--with a wonderful feel for narrative history, Mac Donald chronicles one of the most compelling and dramatic events of the 20th century.
Author: Janet Maybee
Publisher: Nimbus+ORM
ISBN: 177108345X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 235
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Book Description
One of the greatest maritime disasters in history is reexamined in light of new evidence in this revealing chronicle of the 1917 Halifax explosion. On December 6, 1917, harbor pilot Francis Mackey was guiding the SS Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, into Bedford Basin to join a convoy across the Atlantic when it was rammed by the Belgian Relief vessel SS Imo. The resulting massive explosion destroyed Halifax's north end and left at least two thousand people dead, including pilot William Hayes aboard Imo. The tragedy left the country in shock—and looking for someone to blame. Federal government and naval officials found in Pilot Mackey a convenient target for public anger. Charged with manslaughter, he was imprisoned, villainized in the press, and denied his pilot's license even after the charges were dropped. A century later he is still unfairly linked to the tragedy. Through interviews with Mackey's relatives, transcripts, letters, and newly exposed government documents, author Janet Maybee explores the circumstances leading up to the Halifax Explosion, the question of culpability, and the unjust, deliberate persecution that followed for Mackey and his family.
Author: Chris Dickon
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786485019
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308
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Book Description
Normandy, Flanders Field and other overseas cemeteries of the American Battle Monument Commission (ABMC) are well known. However, lesser-known burial sites of American war dead exist all over the world—in Australia and across the Pacific Rim, in Canada and Mexico, Libya and Spain, most of Europe and as far north as the Russian Arctic. This is the history of American soldiers buried abroad since the American Revolution. It traces the evolution of American attitudes and practices about war dead and provides the names and locations of those still buried abroad in non–ABMC locations.
