Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917

Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917
by Laura M. Mac Donald

Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917
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Book Summary Information

Author: Laura M. Mac Donald
Edition: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2006-11-14
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 372
Publisher: Walker & Company

Book Reviews of Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917

Book Review: The Destruction of Halifax--December 6, 1917
Summary: 5 Stars

I was not aware of the Halifax disaster of December 6, 1917, until I had a chance to visit the city in 2006. Laura MacDonald has spent a great deal of time researching the collision between the Mont Blanc and the Imo in the narrows of Halifax harbor. The Mont Blanc was loaded with munitions to be used against the Germans in World War I. Interestingly it wasn't until 25 minutes after the collision that the explosion took place obliterating much of the city of Halifax to the extent it was impossible to recognize where you were in the city because there were no longer any streets to use as guidance. As a result of the explosion a tsunami spread itself onto the city of Halifax and neighboring Dartmouth across the harbor. Much of the book is used to describe the suffering that took place. In addition a blizzard added to the misery. Many people were convinced the Germans had unleashed a bomb on the city. The city of Halifax has been extremely grateful to the city of Boston for sending a trainload of assistance to the devastated city. Due to the blizzard taking place at the time just getting the train to Halifax was a major feat in itself. Doctors worked incredibly long hours performing surgeries, many of which involved the eyes. Each year Halifax extends its thanks to Boston by sending a Christmas tree to the city that is displayed on Boston Common.

I don't believe this disaster is very well known in America, and author Laura MacDonald has written a riveting account of the pain and suffering that took the lives of 1,951 individuals with thousands of others suffering a variety of other injuries. The burial of the unidentified and indigent were buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery where several of the victims of the Titanic were buried five years earlier.

Summary of Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917

Before Hiroshima, there was Halifax. In 1917 the busy Canadian port was crowded with ships leaving for war-torn Europe. On December 6, two of them, the Mont Blanc and the Imo, collided in the hard-to-navigate Narrows of the harbor. Within minutes, the Mont Blanc, ablaze, grounded against the city?s docks. The explosion that followed would devastate the city and shock the world. 
Set against the background of World War I, Curse of the Narrows is the first major account of the world?s largest pre-atomic explosion that set in motion a remarkable relief effort originating from Boston.

Assiduous research, beautiful writing, and a great talent for historical reconstruction make Laura MacDonald's Curse of the Narrows the definitive account of the Halifax explosion of December 1917. MacDonald is a master of minutia--chemistry, laws of navigation, the horrors visited on the poor people of Halifax's north end--and she writes with supreme authority and exquisite detail.

MacDonald begins her account with geography and she sets the scene by examining the bustling port of Halifax in the First World War. Using the very best recent scholarship, she then reconstructs the accident itself, describing closely the series of small errors that lead the Norwegian freighter Imo to ram into the French munitions vessel Mont Blanc in the narrows of Halifax harbor: "The Mont Blanc, with 2,925 tons of explosives, packed in hermetically sealed holds inside a super-heated hull was now the most powerful bomb the war and the world had yet produced." When it exploded, thousands of innocent people were killed in an instant. If MacDonald had limited her investigation into the causes of the accident her book would still be worth buying. She offers much more: examinations of the inquiries and court cases, the official response to the devastation, and above all the ways in which families were challenged by the appalling effects of the explosion. By tracing the struggles of these families, the Duggans, the Frasers, and the Galloways among others, MacDonald brings the scope of the tragedy home to the reader in a way that few would have believed possible. Be warned. Parts of this book are book have an impact on the reader's soul no less than the concussion of the explosion itself. This is a magnificent accomplishment. --William Newbigging

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