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The Great Halifax Explosion
July 2020: Other Books
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[+ Poll Ballot] The Great Halifax Explosion / John U. Bacon. 4 stars
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I really liked this one too, Cindy-glad to see your review
I went to the museum in Halifax where they have an amazing exhibit about this, including voice recordings of people who were children at the time. People heard the boom and rushed to their windows just in time for all the glass to shatter and strike them. Then it turned extremely cold that night while people were in demolished houses.
Robin P wrote: "I went to the museum in Halifax where they have an amazing exhibit about this, including voice recordings of people who were children at the time. People heard the boom and rushed to their windows ..."Yeah, I meant to and forgot to mention the snow storm that hit the next day. :-(
That would be a really interesting exhibit!
Robin - I've been to that same museum in Halifax. The explosion is still "remembered" in that city to this day. I put remembered in quotes since clearly most people living there today weren't born yet. But an event that has reverberated through the history of the city.I've wanted to read this book for a while - glad to see a good review.
I hope you like it, Sue!
4 stars
On Dec. 5, 1917, two ships collided in the Halifax Harbour. One of them was loaded down with explosives, meant to head to Europe for the war effort. Instead, with the collision, a good chunk of Halifax and neighbouring Richmond were wiped out in an instant, along with a couple thousand (likely a low estimate) people, and more thousands injured.
This was very well researched. It does include some discussion of the war, and a soldier from Nova Scotia who ended up helping out after the disaster, as he was back home after being severely injured. Also includes a detailed account of the ships and crew involved in the collision, as well as tidbits of time of some of the civilians on shore who were affected (lost family members, lost homes, injuries...).