Curse of The Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917

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Curse of The Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917

by Laura M. Mac Donald, Laura M. Mac Donald

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 267 ratings · 57 reviews

The dramatic story of one of the greatest disasters in history

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 ci...more

Hardcover, 355 pages

Published October 1st 2005 by Walker & Company (first published 2005)

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Feb 08, 2009 Jan C rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: disaster

Let's face it, I enjoy a good disaster book. And this was one disaster I had never heard of. I've never been to Halifax. But I guess I'm half-Canadian.

This was one of the best. Well researched, possibly a bit graphic. But this was like a perfect storm of chain reactions - a disaster in the harbor, causes a tsunami, causes a blizzard. The explosion in the harbor should have been enough. MacDonald goes in to vivid detail of how the explosion impacted the surrounding area. Then, those who survived...more

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Mar 15, 2011 Emma rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There have only been a handful of times in my life that i've not finished a book I've started. What could be a great account of a truly horrible, tragic event reads like a gorefest slasher flick screenplay. There is an over abundance of detail in describing the injuries people suffered in this explosion that took place in the bay of Halifax - only atomic bombs have caused greater explosions. But do I need 4 straight pages describing the awful details of what happens when people get glass in thei...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Jed Sorokin-Altmann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In 1917, there was an explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia's harbor. Two ships had collided, one of which was laden with munitions inteded for use in WW I, and when it blew up, it was the largest man-made explosion in history until the Trinity atomic bomb tests. The explosion devastated the city and neighboring communities. Laura MacDonald's book is a gripping read of the how the explosion occurred, what the effects were, and what the aftermath was.

This book may be of particular interest to Bostoni...more

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Feb 17, 2011 Blyden rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a fascinating book. Each chapter focuses on some aspect of the Halifax Explosion of 1917, organized in loosely chronological orders. Starts with setting the political, economic and military context of Halifax leading up to and during WWI and the principal parties involved. The events of the fateful morning, reconstructed from eyewitness accounts and testimony, are detailed early in the book. The main part of the book is an account, weaving local history with many personal narratives of...more This was a fascinating book. Each chapter focuses on some aspect of the Halifax Explosion of 1917, organized in loosely chronological orders. Starts with setting the political, economic and military context of Halifax leading up to and during WWI and the principal parties involved. The events of the fateful morning, reconstructed from eyewitness accounts and testimony, are detailed early in the book. The main part of the book is an account, weaving local history with many personal narratives of local residents who experienced it, of the aftermath of the disaster: the family tragedies, the shock, the toll of death and suffering, and response to the disaster in the days and weeks following. One of the last chapters in the book covers the legal proceedings concerning those responsible for the collision that caused the explosion and whether they failed their duties, bringing the story back to the events of that fateful morning. The story concludes with an epilogue relating what became of each of the key characters in the story.

The cast is so large that it can be difficult at times remembering who is who, but the stories are absolutely compelling. Events of deeply emotional loss, compassion, and horror are recounted that are almost guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes. The story is fascinating also as a case study in a historical disaster response.

The Halifax explosion was the largest man-made explosion up to that point in history and remains the largest accidental man-made explosion in human history. It totally destroyed the Richmond part of Halifax and damaged virtually nearly every building in the city. It was precedent-setting in terms of lessons learned about disaster response, and a key event in the medical science of vision loss as a result of many people being blinded from losing eyes from flying glass and other shrapnel. The story of the carnage is gruesome. The human ability to survive amazing. The interplay between social forces and disaster response is fascinating. In many cases the prior social order was set aside by the necessities of the disaster, yet in other ways the social order shaped the disaster response, with the expected inequalities. A very good book to read, but more than a little depressing. (less)

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Aug 09, 2009 Margo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: you-can-borrow

Absolutely fascinating, but I found I could only deal with it a chapter or two at a time -- it was just so hard to read about. What the people of Halifax went through in this disaster just boggles the mind.

I picked up a book on this disaster in a Canadian B&B's common room a number of years ago, and I wanted time to learn more. This was the way to do it: incredibly detailed narrative, obviously drawn with great skill from much research and many sources. Often heartwrenching, sometimes quite...more

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Dec 03, 2008 Lindsay Doering rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: history buffs

Recommended to Lindsay by: no one

Great story. I have been to Halifax a number of times because of a particular offshore sailing race that ends there. One year, at the end of the race crew member received gift bags. Each bag had,among other things, a decal from the local police. The decal was supposed to go on your boat and it had the rules of the road on it - a diagram showing what vessel has to give way to what vessel. It was the violation of this rule that led to the explosion described in the book. I have no idea if the poli...more

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Mar 25, 2008 Mick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A gripping account of an event I never knew occured until I visited Halifax this past Oct. Well written but a bit drawn out.

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Apr 26, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arts-and-historical

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 tha...more

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Jun 07, 2012 J. G. Burdette rated it 3 of 5 stars

While this is definitely an interesting account of the Explosion, it is in many places much to drawn out. It's also rather dry in many areas. I read almost anything concerning ships, but this book started out a bit slow. MacDonald goes into too much detail about the horrifying injuries and deaths suffered by those lost in the disaster. I thought this unnecessary and terribly gruesome. I think the size of this book would have been cut down a great deal or more easily read had this not been includ...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Jeff Morgan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Probably one of the worst maritime disasters ever, the explosion that took place in Halifax harbor was the largest man made explosion until the detonation of the first atomic bomb.

This book is a gripping and poignant description and narrative of not only the terrifying disaster, but also of the massive international effort to provide aid during the ensuing blizzard that cut off the town immediately after the blast.

It is a story of unparralled drama and sacrifice told by one of the foremost resea...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This coverage of the "Halifax Disaster" on December 6, 1917, is well-written and comprehensively researched.

Splinters of glass and wood caused by the explosion in the harbor exited the survivors' bodies for the rest of their lives. People living in Halifax and Dartmouth (Nova Scotia, Canada) still find debris in their yards. A number of the victims were never identified. The basis for the specialty in pediatric medicine began here where so many children were treated, and Dr. Ladd of Boston gaine...more

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May 26, 2011 Zycroft rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 04, 2010 kingshearte rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, cdn-books-worth-reading, non-fiction

Each December the people of Boston gather to witness the annual lighting of the Christmas tree. Some of them probably do not know why the people of Halifax send a tree every year or even that it is a gift from Nova Scotia. No one needs to know the story behind a tree to admire its beauty. But the people of Halifax know where it comes from and they remember the story.

The above is not actually the blurb for the book; it's just a quick introductory paragraph, but I found it somehow more affecting t...more Each December the people of Boston gather to witness the annual lighting of the Christmas tree. Some of them probably do not know why the people of Halifax send a tree every year or even that it is a gift from Nova Scotia. No one needs to know the story behind a tree to admire its beauty. But the people of Halifax know where it comes from and they remember the story.

The above is not actually the blurb for the book; it's just a quick introductory paragraph, but I found it somehow more affecting than a blurb. It says what it needs to, in any case, as far as letting you know what this book is about. If you know about the explosion, it's clear; and if you don't, maybe it's intriguing enough to make you want to know. In any case, there it is.

This book was extremely well-written. As someone who's pretty much always had at least some family out East, and who despite having only lived there for four years during school has an inexplicably strong attachment to Nova Scotia, the Halifax Explosion is something that is very familiar to me. As such, I pretty much knew, broadly at least, what happened, and yet the first part of this book held me riveted. It was written in such a way to have me going, "Oh no, don't do that!" and, "Oh, maybe they'll make it... Oh no," despite being fully aware that no, they would not make it. A book that can do that is quite an achievement.

The explosion itself, despite my familiarity with it, remains mind-boggling. The whole thing was just this utterly ridiculous string of things that shouldn't have been allowed to happen, compounded by uncontrollable natural factors. It was such that, if you were to try and write this as fiction, by the time you got to the massive blizzards that hampered the relief efforts, your readers would be scoffing at how you've just gone unrealistically overboard with the adverse conditions. But there it was. One thing after another after another, that was so frustrating to read, because at so many points, someone could have done something differently to prevent what happened. People tried so hard to lay blame after it was over, but ultimately, I kind of have to agree with the British Privy Council - neither of the two ships should ever have allowed themselves to get close enough that this was even a possibility. There were plenty of other factors aside from that, and we'll never know the whole story, since the pilot and captain of the Imo were both killed, but really, there were so many errors in judgement from so many different people that to assign blame to just one or a handful seems ridiculous.

And then there was the aftermath. The sight of the Mont Blanc's anchor sitting on the other side of the Northwest Arm where it landed gives you some idea, but the devastation caused by this explosion was truly beyond the scope of anything most of us can really grasp. The sheer number of dead, the fact that there was not a single building left in the city with its windows intact, entire communities flattened, and a ship the size of the Mont Blanc largely vapourized by the 9000-degree heat of the explosion are things that are really hard to even imagine. The first part of the book, dealing with the events leading up to, and the explosion itself, read like a really good thriller. I had a hard time tearing myself away, and blazed through that part extremely quickly. The second part, dealing with the aftermath, was much harder. It was no less compelling, but much of it was so truly horrifying that it became very difficult to read. The scores of unidentified bodies, the mutilated people missing body parts, the buckets of eyes that had to be removed, the people so blackened by soot and burns that they were unrecognizable, were all very gruesome, and downright nauseating at times. That part was a slog, but also a testament to humanity, with the way people responded, and refused to fall apart.

The only quibbles I had with this book were very minor, and had to do with American spellings and conventions. For one thing, despite the statement,

I have cleverly avoided arguments between my American publisher and my Canadian publisher, as well as with my family and fellow HRM-ers, by never referring to the harbor by its proper name except in the following sentence. It is now, and in my heart shall forever remain, Halifax Harbour,

she does in fact refer to it by name at least three times (spelling it without the u, I might add, so it's clear which publisher won). She's gone all American with the spelling, in fact, which does disappoint me a little. It's a very Canadian book, about a Canadian event, and I would like to see things spelled according to Canadian standards. But such is life, and it didn't bother me as much as it apparently bothered a previous borrower of this book, who corrected "checks" to "cheques," which I found particularly amusing, because I guess all the other American spellings in the book were OK? More than the spellings, though, I was bothered by the use of Fahrenheit degrees. They mean nothing to me, and while I guess she can be forgiven for catering to the American publisher on that one, it would have been nice to also acknowledge the likelihood that many or most of the readers of this book will in fact be Canadian, and if you're going to use Fahrenheit, at least include a Celsius measurement in brackets or something. I think the distances were also stated pretty much entirely in miles, but as I have little conception of distances generally, that didn't bother me as much. Miles or kilometres; I have no real conception of how far either of them is, so it makes little difference to me. But that's another one where some acknowledgement of the Canadian audience would have been nice.

In any case, this book was fascinating and informative, and absolutely well worth a read. It may in fact be one of the better books I've read so far this year.

Edit: It has been pointed out to me that the only instances of use of the proper name of the Halifax Harbour were in titles and original quotations. I only borrowed the book, and therefore can't confirm this, and could have sworn that at least once instance that I noticed was right at the beginning of a chapter, in the main text, but nonetheless, I am certainly willing to acknowledge that I could be mistaken. As for the rest of the American spellings, I do understand that that is the result of going with an American publisher, and like I said, such is life. It's still disappointing, though.(less)

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Apr 13, 2008 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this book to be endlessly interesting regarding all different facets of disaster recovery. Even though I didn't fully understand the accident and how it happened (perhaps part of the author's point), the aftermath - both the immediate emergency response and the recovery effort are described in such well researched detail (even to the pointing out of conflicting stories and the unlikeliness of agreed upon events) it was an amazing look at the process. Having worked a bit in various areas...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fires, world-history, maritime-history, non-fiction

I had never heard of the Halifax disaster. After reading this book I can't imagine why. This is an event of catastrophic consequence. To imagine the power of 2,925 tons of TNT exploding.... the results of which are unimaginable to anyone that was not there. But this author does a amazing job of putting you there!!! This book was incredible. The Halifax disaster is truly a tragic yet amazing event. No matter what you like to read.... this book should be good to anyone and everyone.

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Jul 21, 2012 Marks54 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A ship filled with high explosives in wartime, a crowded city harbor, a collision and fire, all right before the onset of an historic blizzard . . . what bad could happen??

This is an excellent of an important disaster that I had never heard of. I don't want to give anything away but it is an incredible story that would be hard to concoct if you were writing a novel.

The book is thorough, well written and well worth the time.

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Feb 21, 2013 J. Dallas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fire-department-ems

Overshadowed by W.W.I. This book is a gripping account of one of the worst tragidies to ever strike North America. A page turner that takes you to the town of Halifax and into the lives of those men, women and children who lived and died on that fateful day in December 1917. It tell of how pediatrics came into its own in the field of medicine and explains why Halifax sends a Christmas tree to Boston every year.

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Nov 19, 2012 Abbey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A fascinating account of a disaster I had never heard of, even though it happened on the same continent. The extent of the damage to the town of Halifax and it's citizens was as horrific as the people who struggled through a blizzard and other dangerous conditions to assist the victims were heroic.

All in all, well worth reading, as a bit of history that somehow got missed in my education, and, I expect, in many others.

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Nov 14, 2011 Corinna Bechko rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, nonfiction

An interesting account of the incident (which I admit that I had never heard of before reading this book) which suffered a bit from a lack of focus. The narrative jumped back and forth in time which made it difficult to follow any one strand of the story. That said, it was poignant and sympathetically told, if somewhat inelegantly.

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May 05, 2011 Jean rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the amazing story of the destruction of a large portion of Halifax, NS in 1917 when two ships, one fully loaded with dangerous ammunition, collided in the narrow harbor. The resulting explosion killed over 2000 people and injured 6000 (many in guesome ways). Many houses were destroyed, and then they burned. The following day, a huge snow storm buried the city. Survivors often not only had no home, they had no clothes (clothing was ripped off by the blast) and they were unable to locate t...more

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Mar 27, 2009 Gabriele Wills rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, ww1

A gripping, well-written account of a tragic disaster that is too little known. How many of us Canadians grew up thinking that the First World War just happened in Europe? More Canadians died on the 'home front" in Halifax than during the 103 bombing raids on England.

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Mar 21, 2012 Lex rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Incredible read - this was a difficult read as the details of the explosion and aftermath are intense. I found myself not wanting to put the book down, but needing to at times.
I'd always had an interest in the Halifax Explosion since moving there and this book provides an incredible amount of insight to the events.
Highly recommend.

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Mar 05, 2009 Carrie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A really thorough and readable account of the 1917 explosion and its aftermath. I especially appreciated the sassy footnotes MacDonald uses to point out discrepancies in other documents and how she chose to negotiate them.

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Sep 02, 2012 Melanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book provides a detailed and insightful account of one of Halifax's greatest and devastating events. Well-researched and well-written, Curse of the Narrows was a very informative and interesting read.

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Apr 11, 2010 Leslie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

Curse of the Narrows is a well-researched history of a forgotten disaster that occurred in Halifax during World War I. Two ships collide in the Narrows portion of Halifax's harbor and the resulting explosion leveled the town and killed or injured over 2000 people. (One ship, the Mont Blanc, had been carrying high-grade explosives when she was struck by the Imo). The author goes on to describe the aftermath of the explosion and the massive relief effort staged by the Canadian government and the U...more

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Apr 29, 2011 Jessica P rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm glad there's finally a book about the Halifax Explosion and it's aftermath, but the author focuses a bit too much on the gory details sometimes to make it enjoyable.

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May 30, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Heartbreaking. After seeing the museum in Halifax dedicated to this horrific event, it was even more depressing to read about actual accounts from survivors.

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Oct 16, 2007 Catherine rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is about a munitions ship in Halifax, Nova Scotia that collides with another ship and results in an extremely deadly explosion that destroyed much of the city on December 6, 1917. The explosion set off a tsunami that engulfed parts of the waterfront. Then, if that weren't enough, that same evening Halifax was buried with snow in a blizzard. The premise sounded fascinating. Unfortunately, the author got bogged down in too many digressions that took away from many of the people's stories...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

By far one of the more griping historical accounts of a disaster I've read. Sadly, a lesser known event that actually involved a fair population.

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Nov 08, 2007 Alexis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Seems like a good introduction to the event (which I was totally unaware of) although it deals pretty superficially with the cause of the explosion itself.

Covers some interesting details of such a catastrophe that you wouldn't have predicted. Like the problem of family pets eating human remains left in the rubble. Or that no churches except one held services for the first week because all the clergymen were too busy giving last rites or presiding over funerals.

Oh oh! Also, the recollections of...more

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