Blizzard of Glass, Sally M. Walker
Blizzard of Glass, Sally M. Walker
1 Rating(s)
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Blizzard of Glass
The Halifax Explosion of 1917

Author: Sally M. Walker

Narrator: Paul Michael

Unabridged: 2 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/14/2012


Synopsis

December 6, 1917, started like any other day in Halifax. But everything stopped shortly before nine o’clock that morning, when two ships collided in Halifax Harbour. One of the ships was loaded with munitions for the troops fighting in Europe; the other was preparing to collect medical supplies for the war’s victims.

The resulting disaster was the largest man-made explosion until the detonation of the atomic bomb in 1945. The blast flattened large areas of Halifax and the town across the harbor, Dartmouth. It killed nearly two thousand people. As if that wasn’t devastating enough, a blizzard hit the next day, dumping more than a foot of snow on the area and
slowing much-needed relief efforts.

This harrowing story of tragedy and recovery reveals the extraordinary strength and determination of a community in one of its darkest hours.

About The Author

Sally M. Walker is the author of Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland; Fossil Fish Found Alive; and Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, which was awarded a Sibert Medal. She first learned about the Halifax Harbour explosion while she and her family were living in Nova Scotia. At that time, plans were underway for the construction of the Memorial Bell Tower.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on July 27, 2013

Growing up in Chicago, I constantly heard and read about the Great Chicago Fire. However, I had never once heard about the Halifax Explosion of 1917. I wonder if that is simply a regional thing. The Halifax explosion is a very interesting story and I am surprised that it is not more well known (and......more

Goodreads review by Wendy on January 20, 2012

Great book! It's the kind of non-fiction I like best, with a combination of facts and personal narrative, all told with a sweeping movement and intensity. The introductory chapters, where we hear about who went to work and who went to school and who stayed home sick and who only went to school in th......more

Goodreads review by Dakota on October 02, 2019

Wow! What a story, what loss and sadness....but there was also kindness and bravery....a true story of two ships colliding in Halifax causing a huge explosion, and a tsunami. Then two blizzards hit during rescue efforts...the largest man-made explosion before the atom bomb.......more

Goodreads review by Loree on July 11, 2011

I picked up an Advance Reader’s Edition of this book at the annual conference of the American Library Association last month. Technically, I am too biased to review it: Sally Walker is a friend and Henry Holt is publishing my own next book. But I’m not the sort of girl that would let those things sw......more

Goodreads review by Joella on February 24, 2012

There was an explosion in 1917 that killed about 2,000 people in Halifax, Canada. Did you know about that? I sure didn't. But wow, what a story. There were two boats that crashed. But even worse is that one of the boats was totally loaded with TNT and other such things to help with the war in Europe......more