San Francisco is Burning by Dennis Smith

San Francisco is Burning by Dennis Smith

At 5:12 a.m. on the morning of April 18, 1906, San Francisco was struck by one of the worst earthquakes in history, instantly killing hundreds. The ensuing fires that ravaged the city for days were responsible for the deaths of as many as 3,000 more. In all, 522 blocks and 28,188 buildings were leveled, and some 200,000 people dislocated. This watershed event in American history has never before been told with the richness of historical detail and insight that our foremost historian of fire, Dennis Smith, brings to it in San Francisco Is Burning. Smith cinematically recounts this terrible tragedy through the stories of the people who lived through those terrible days--from a valiant naval officer who helped save the city's piers and wharves to Eugene Schmitz, the crooked mayor, to the debonair scoundrel Abe Ruef, the most erudite city boss in American history. Throughout, Smith reveals many unknown details about the event, from the city's great vulnerability to fire--due to its corrupt and hasty building practices--to the widespread racism the quake unleashed and the atrocities committed by national guardsmen. Told with verve and a seasoned firefighter's knowledge, San Francisco Is Burning is the gripping and definitive account of one of the greatest disasters of the twentieth century.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780452287594
ISBN 10	0452287596
Title	San Francisco is Burning
Author	Dennis Smith
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Penguin Putnam Inc
Year published	2006-09-01
Number of pages	294
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.