Download The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906: How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself AudioBook Free
The first indication of the continuous terror that followed the 1906 earthquake occurred when a ship steaming off San Francisco's Golden Gate "appeared to jump drive out of water". This gripping bill of the earthquake, the disastrous firestorms that followed, and the city's succeeding reconstruction vividly shows how, after the shaking stopped, humans, not the forces of nature, practically destroyed San Francisco in a exceptional display of simple ineptitude and power politics. Bolstered by recently unpublished eyewitness accounts and photographs, this definitive history of a fascinating city trapped in the grasp of the country's ideal urban catastrophe will forever change conventional knowledge of a meeting one historian called "the very epitome of bigness". Philip Fradkin takes us onto the city's ruptured streets and into its exclusive clubs, teeming hospitals and refugee camps, and its own Chinatown. He presents people - both famous and infamous - who experienced these occurrences, such as Jack port and Charmian London, Enrico Caruso, Adam Phelan, and Abraham Ruef. He traces the horrifying results of the mayor's against the law order to shoot-to-kill anyone suspected of a crime, and he uncovers the ugliness of racism that almost led to conflict with Japan. He reveals how an elite oligarchy didn't serve the needs of standard people, the heroic initiatives of obscure individuals, the long-lasting psychological effects, and exactly how all these occurrences ushered in an interval of unparalleled civic upheaval. This powerful look at how people and corporations function in great catastrophes shows precisely how deeply earthquake, fires, hurricanes, floods, wars, droughts, or serves of terrorism can shape us.
