Full name: Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum

Author: Edward T. O'Donnell Year: 2003 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: History, Non Fiction Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9780767909068 0767909062

There were few experienced swimmers among over 1,300 Lower East Side residents who boarded the General Slocum on June 15, 1904. It shouldn't have mattered, since the steamship was chartered only for a languid excursion from Manhattan to Long Island Sound. But a fire erupted minutes into the trip, forcing hundreds of terrified passengers into the water. By the time the captain found a safe shore for landing, 1,021 had perished. Ship Ablaze draws on firsthand accounts to examine why the death toll was so high and how the city responded. Masterfully capturing both the horror of the event and the heroism of men, women, and children who faced crumbling life jackets and inaccessible lifeboats as the inferno quickly spread, historian Edward T. O'Donnell brings to life a bygone community while honoring the victims of that forgotten day. Similar books: Triangle by David Von Drehle Terrible Honesty by Ann Douglas Five Points by Tyler Anbinder Low Life by Luc Sante The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury Dead Wake by Erik Larson The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson When the Astors Owned New York by Justin Kaplan Six Frigates by Ian W. Toll 102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer The History of Jihad by Robert Spencer Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck The History of Surfing by Matt Warshaw Washington's Immortals by Patrick K. O'Donnell Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga American Gun by Chris Kyle Mythos by Stephen Fry No Way Out by Mitch Weiss