The true story of a horrifying natural disaster-and the corruption that made it worse-by the New York Times-bestselling authors of Voyage of the Damned.
In late April 1902, Mount Pelée, a volcano on the Caribbean island Martinique, began to wake up. It emitted clouds of ash and smoke for two weeks until violently erupting on May 8. Over 30,000 residents of St. Pierre were killed; they burned to death under rivers of hot lava and suffocated under pounds of hot ash. Only three people managed to survive: a prisoner trapped in a dungeon-like jail cell, a man on the outskirts of town, and a young girl found floating unconscious in a boat days later.
So how did a town of thousands not heed the warnings of nature and local scientists, instead staying behind to perish in the onslaught of volcanic ash? Why did the newspapers publish articles assuring readers that the volcano was harmless? And why did the authorities refuse to allow the American Consul to contact Washington about the conditions? The answer lies in politics: With an election on the horizon, the political leaders of Martinique ignored the welfare of their people in order to consolidate the votes they needed to win.
A gripping and informative book on the disastrous effects of a natural disaster coupled with corruption, The Day the World Ended reveals the story of a city engulfed in flames and the political leaders that chose to kill their people rather than give up their political power.
Autorentext
Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts are authors of four previous books, all highly successful in bookstores and book clubs, all acclaimed in the United States and abroad. The Day the World Ended and Voyage of the Damned were made into major motion pictures; Shipwreck won the Edgar Award in 1973; and The San Francisco Earthquake has been hailed as a major achievement of reporting and writing.
Zusammenfassung
The compelling true story of the most lethal natural disaster in the western hemisphere from Edgar Awardnominated authors Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts In late April 1902, Mount Pelée, a volcano on the Caribbean island Martinique, began to wake up. It emitted clouds of ash and smoke for two weeks until violently erupting on May 8. Over 30,000 residents of St. Pierre were killed; they burned to death under rivers of hot lava and suffocated under pounds of hot ash. Only three people managed to survive: a prisoner trapped in a dungeon-like jail cell, a man on the outskirts of town, and a young girl found floating unconscious in a boat days later. So how did a town of thousands not heed the warnings of nature and local scientists, instead staying behind to perish in the onslaught of volcanic ash? Why did the newspapers publish articles assuring readers that the volcano was harmless? And why did the authorities refuse to allow the American Consul to contact Washington about the conditions? The answer lies in politics: With an election on the horizon, the political leaders of Martinique ignored the welfare of their people in order to consolidate the votes they needed to win. A gripping and informative book on the disastrous effects of a natural disaster coupled with corruption, The Day the World Ended reveals the story of a city engulfed in flames and the political leaders that chose to kill their people rather than give up their political power.
Inhalt
- Cover
- Title Page
- Contents
- Author's Note
- Prologue
- Friday - MAY 2, 1902
- Chapter One - The First Victim
- Chapter Two - The Anxious Bridegroom
- Chapter Three - A Cell with a View
- Saturday - MAY 3, 1902
- Chapter Four - Tumbled from Bed
- Chapter Five - Lava in the Throat
- Chapter Six - The Whole World in Flood
- Sunday - MAY 4, 1902
- Chapter Seven - Special Powers
- Chapter Eight - A Black Mass
- Chapter Nine - The Prison Riot
- Chapter Ten - Released to the Living
- Monday - MAY 5, 1902
- Chapter Eleven - The Pavement Slaughterhouse 133
- Chapter Twelve - A Mountain on the March 145
- Chapter Thirteen - The Great Wave
- Chapter Fourteen - A Shortage of Coffins
- Tuesday - MAY 6, 1902
- Chapter Fifteen - The Sympathy of the Government
- Chapter Sixteen - A Handful of Francs
- Chapter Seventeen - The Deepening Crisis
- Chapter Eighteen - A Fateful Reprieve
- Chapter Nineteen - Stars and Stripes
- Wednesday - MAY 7, 1902
- Chapter Twenty - Gabriel's Angel
- Chapter Twenty-One - The End of the Affair
- Thursday - MAY 8, 1902
- Chapter Twenty-Two - "Allez"
- Chapter Twenty-Three - Requiem for the Living
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Copyright