Overview
"At 5:12 a.m. on the morning of April 18, 1906, San Francisco was struck by one of the worst earthquakes in history, instantly killing hundreds. The ensuing fires that ravaged the city for days were responsible for the deaths of as many as 3,000 more. In all, 522 blocks and 28,188 buildings were leveled, and some 200,000 people dislocated. This watershed event in American history has never before been told with the richness of historical detail and insight that our foremost historian of fire, Dennis Smith, brings to it in San Francisco Is Burning. Smith cinematically recounts this terrible tragedy through the stories of the people who lived through those terrible days--from a valiant naval officer who helped save the city's piers and wharves to Eugene Schmitz, the crooked mayor, to the ""debonair scoundrel"" Abe Ruef, the most erudite city boss in American history. Throughout, Smith reveals many unknown details about the event, from the city's great vulnerability to fire--due to its corrupt and hasty building practices--to the widespread racism the quake unleashed and the atrocities committed by national guardsmen. Told with verve and a seasoned firefighter's knowledge, San Francisco Is Burning is the gripping and definitive account of one of the greatest disasters of the twentieth century."
Full Product Details
Author: Dennis Smith ,
Alan Sklar
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Imprint: Tantor Audio
ISBN: 9798200149056
Publication Date: 22 September 2005
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Audio
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
"An American epic, a masterwork.... Simth teaches so much we need to know. Simultaneously his literary skills mesmerize us. Best of all he inspires.-- ""Thomas Fleming, author of The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I"" ""An American epic, a masterwork...Smith teaches so much we need to know. Simultaneously his literary skills mesmerize us. Best of all he inspires."" -- ""Thomas Fleming, author of The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I"" ""Sklar's reading is clear and highly professional."" -- ""Kliatt"" ""Smith has always been the chronicler of catastrophic fire, but he always brings to his narratives a powerful sense of the complexity of the human beings who have to deal with its elemental horror."" -- ""Thomas Keneally, award winning author of Schindler's List"""
Author Information
Dennis Smith is a retired New York City firefighter. He stayed in the fire department an additional nineteen years after the success of his first book, Report from Engine Co. 82. He is the author of numerous books including several other bestsellers about firefighting. He founded Firehouse Magazine and has become an outstanding spokesman for firefighters nationwide. He is currently chairman of First Responders Financial Company and lives in New York City. Alan Sklar, a graduate of Dartmouth, has excelled in his career as a freelance voice actor. Named a Best Voice of 2009 by AudioFile magazine, his work has earned him several Earphones Awards, a Booklist Editors' Choice Award (twice), a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award, and Audiobook of the Year by ForeWord magazine. He has also narrated thousands of corporate videos for clients such as NASA, Sikorsky Aircraft, IBM, Dannon, Pfizer, AT&T, and SONY.
