An American Tragedy
Author : Theodore Dreiser
Publisher : ReadHowYouWant.com
Page : 526 pages
File Size : 22,37 MB
Release : 1978
Category : New York (State)
ISBN : 1427081271
Author : Theodore Dreiser
Publisher : ReadHowYouWant.com
Page : 526 pages
File Size : 22,37 MB
Release : 1978
Category : New York (State)
ISBN : 1427081271
Author : Mitchell Newton-Matza
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 1389 pages
File Size : 32,57 MB
Release : 2014-03-26
Category : History
ISBN :
From the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to the Sandy Hook school massacre of 2012, this two-volume encyclopedia surveys tragic events—natural and man-made, famous and forgotten—that helped shape American history. Tragedies and disasters have always been part of the fabric of American history. Some gave rise to reactions that profoundly influenced the nation. Others dominated public consciousness for a moment, then disappeared from collective memory. Organized chronologically, Disasters and Tragic Events examines these moments, covering both the familiar and the obscure and probing their immediate and long-term effects. Unlike other works that concentrate on a particular type of disaster, for example, weather- or medicine-related tragedies, this two-volume encyclopedia has no such limits. Its entries range from natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, to civic disturbances, environmental disasters, epidemics and medical errors, transportation accidents, and more. The work is a perfect supplement for history classes and will also prove of great interest to the general reader.
Author : Ace Collins
Publisher : National Geographic Books
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 49,59 MB
Release : 2003-05-27
Category : History
ISBN : 0452283000
A century of great American disaster stories, from the Johnstown Flood of 1889 to America's first commercial jet crash. In this gripping collection of tragic moments from our nation's past, Ace Collins tells the gripping real-life tales of men, women, and children trapped in situations beyond their control. Culled from documents, interviews with key participants, and news stories of the day, Tragedies of American History chronicles the harrowing human drama of individuals facing life at its most extreme. Infused with danger and immediacy, these stories place readers in the middle of harrowing circumstances as they unfold. Putting a human face on these tragic events, Collins offers keen insights into people's thoughts, fears, and emotions as they battle against the forces of nature and human error. From the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 to the Coconut Grove Fire of '42 . . . from the Great Nashville Train Wreck of 1918 to 1953's Waco Tornado, here are the famous as well as the forgotten events that illustrate our will to survive in the face of certain doom.
Author : Kenneth Goldsmith
Publisher : powerHouse Books
Page : 178 pages
File Size : 13,11 MB
Release : 2013-03-12
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 1576876373
What are the words we use to describe something that we never thought we'd have to describe? In Seven American Deaths and Disasters, Kenneth Goldsmith transcribes historic radio and television reports of national tragedies as they unfurl, revealing an extraordinarily rich linguistic panorama of passionate description. Taking its title from the series of Andy Warhol paintings by the same name, Goldsmith recasts the mundane as the iconic, creating a series of prose poems that encapsulate seven pivotal moments in recent American history: the John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and John Lennon assassinations, the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the Columbine shootings, 9/11, and the death of Michael Jackson. While we've become accustomed to watching endless reruns of these tragic spectacles—often to the point of cliché—once rendered in text, they become unfamiliar, and revealing new dimensions emerge. Impartial reportage is revealed to be laced with subjectivity, bias, mystery, second-guessing, and, in many cases, white-knuckled fear. Part nostalgia, part myth, these words render pivotal moments in American history through the communal lens of media.
Author : Matthew Lysiak
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 21,43 MB
Release : 2013
Category : Education
ISBN : 147675375X
"In the vein of Dave Cullen's Columbine, the first comprehensive account of the Sandy Hook tragedy--with exclusive new reporting that chronicles the horrific events of December 14, 2012, including new insight into the dark mind of gunman Adam Lanza. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and a decade's worth of emails from Lanza's mother to close friends that chronicled his slow slide into mental illness, Newtown pieces together the perfect storm that led to this unspeakable act of violence that shattered so many lives. Newtown explores the two central theories that have permeated the media since the attack: some claim Lanza suffered from severe mental illness, while others insist that, far from being a random act of insanity, this was a meticulously thought out, premeditated attack at least two years in the making by a violent video-gamer so obsessed with "glory kills" and researching mass murderers that he was willing to go to any length to attain the top score. Lanza's dark descent from a young boy with adjustment disorders to a calculating killer is interwoven with the Newtown massacre as it unfolded at the time, told from the points of view of eye witnesses, survivors, parents of victims, first responders, and Adam's relatives. A definitive account of a tragedy that shook a nation, Newtown features exclusive material including initial misinformation reported by the media and commentary on how this catastrophic event became a lightning rod for political agendas, much like Columbine did more than a decade ago"--
Author : Ace Collins
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 12,37 MB
Release : 2003-05-27
Category : History
ISBN : 0452283000
A century of great American disaster stories, from the Johnstown Flood of 1889 to America's first commercial jet crash. In this gripping collection of tragic moments from our nation's past, Ace Collins tells the gripping real-life tales of men, women, and children trapped in situations beyond their control. Culled from documents, interviews with key participants, and news stories of the day, Tragedies of American History chronicles the harrowing human drama of individuals facing life at its most extreme. Infused with danger and immediacy, these stories place readers in the middle of harrowing circumstances as they unfold. Putting a human face on these tragic events, Collins offers keen insights into people's thoughts, fears, and emotions as they battle against the forces of nature and human error. From the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 to the Coconut Grove Fire of '42 . . . from the Great Nashville Train Wreck of 1918 to 1953's Waco Tornado, here are the famous as well as the forgotten events that illustrate our will to survive in the face of certain doom.
Author : Mitchell Newton-Matza
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 846 pages
File Size : 27,56 MB
Release : 2014-03-26
Category : History
ISBN : 1610691660
From the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to the Sandy Hook school massacre of 2012, this two-volume encyclopedia surveys tragic events—natural and man-made, famous and forgotten—that helped shape American history. Tragedies and disasters have always been part of the fabric of American history. Some gave rise to reactions that profoundly influenced the nation. Others dominated public consciousness for a moment, then disappeared from collective memory. Organized chronologically, Disasters and Tragic Events examines these moments, covering both the familiar and the obscure and probing their immediate and long-term effects. Unlike other works that concentrate on a particular type of disaster, for example, weather- or medicine-related tragedies, this two-volume encyclopedia has no such limits. Its entries range from natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, to civic disturbances, environmental disasters, epidemics and medical errors, transportation accidents, and more. The work is a perfect supplement for history classes and will also prove of great interest to the general reader.
Author : Steven Biel
Publisher : NYU Press
Page : 422 pages
File Size : 41,15 MB
Release : 2001-11
Category : History
ISBN : 0814713459
Ranging widely, essayists here examine the 1900 storm that ravaged Galveston, Texas, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the Titanic sinking, the Northridge earthquake, the crash of Air Florida Flight 90, the 1977 Chicago El train crash, and many other devastating events. These catastrophes elicited vastly different responses, and thus raise a number of important questions. How, for example did African Americans, feminists, and labor activists respond to the Titanic disaster? Why did the El train crash take on such symbolic meaning for the citizens of Chicago? In what ways did the San Francisco earthquake reaffirm rather than challenge a predominant faith in progress?
Author : Clifford D. Conner
Publisher : Haymarket Books
Page : 283 pages
File Size : 15,50 MB
Release : 2020-05-05
Category : Science
ISBN : 164259203X
A look at the destructive history of science-for-profit, including its toll on the US pandemic response, by the author of A People’s History of Science. Despite a facade of brilliant technological advances, American science has led humanity to the brink of interrelated disasters. In The Tragedy of American Science, historian of science Clifford D. Conner describes the dual processes by which this history has unfolded since the Second World War, addressing the corporatization and the militarization of science in the US. He examines the role of private profit considerations in determining the direction of scientific inquiry—and the ways those considerations have dangerously undermined the integrity of sciences impacting food, water, air, medicine, and the climate. In addition, he explores the relationship between scientific industries and the US military, discussing the innumerable financial and human scientific resources that have been diverted from other critical areas in order to further military aggrandizement and technological development. While the underlying problems may appear intractable, Conner compellingly argues that replacing the current science-for-profit system with a science-for-human-needs system is not an impossible utopian dream—and the first step to a better future is grappling with the mistakes of the past.
Author : Christine A. Klein
Publisher : NYU Press
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 37,57 MB
Release : 2014-02-28
Category : History
ISBN : 1479825387
Read a free excerpt here! American engineers have done astounding things to bend the Mississippi River to their will: forcing one of its tributaries to flow uphill, transforming over a thousand miles of roiling currents into a placid staircase of water, and wresting the lower half of the river apart from its floodplain. American law has aided and abetted these feats. But despite our best efforts, so-called “natural disasters” continue to strike the Mississippi basin, as raging floodwaters decimate waterfront communities and abandoned towns literally crumble into the Gulf of Mexico. In some places, only the tombstones remain, leaning at odd angles as the underlying soil erodes away. Mississippi River Tragedies reveals that it is seductively deceptive—but horribly misleading—to call such catastrophes “natural.” Authors Christine A. Klein and Sandra B. Zellmer present a sympathetic account of the human dreams, pride, and foibles that got us to this point, weaving together engaging historical narratives and accessible law stories drawn from actual courtroom dramas. The authors deftly uncover the larger story of how the law reflects and even amplifies our ambivalent attitude toward nature—simultaneously revering wild rivers and places for what they are, while working feverishly to change them into something else. Despite their sobering revelations, the authors’ final message is one of hope. Although the acknowledgement of human responsibility for unnatural disasters can lead to blame, guilt, and liability, it can also prod us to confront the consequences of our actions, leading to a liberating sense of possibility and to the knowledge necessary to avoid future disasters.