Disaster

Our Disaster American history book series chronicles the tragedies in history that devastated a place in the United States. Discover how the circus disaster of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train contributed to the demise of the circus industry. Peer into the waters of Cape Cod’s “Graveyard of Ships”, then meet the survivors of the Wyoming Blizzard of 1949.  Pay tribute to the first responders who rescued campers during the 1959 Yellowstone Earthquake as well as the firefighters who battled the great Strand Theatre Fire in 1941. From vicious tornadoes to the greatest storms in the past century, these disaster books revive the voices of those lost to historical tragedies. [View all Disaster books]
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Cover image for Terror over Elizabeth, New Jersey, isbn: 9781467149679
Terror over Elizabeth, New Jersey
Peter Zablocki
$21.99
Cover image for Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Bernardino County, isbn: 9781626190122
Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Bernardino County
Pat G. Macha
$21.99
Cover image for Airship ROMA Disaster in Hampton Roads, The, isbn: 9781467119207
Airship ROMA Disaster in Hampton Roads, The
Nancy E. Sheppard
$21.99
Cover image for Albuquerque's 1950 Bomber Crash, isbn: 9781467151511
Albuquerque's 1950 Bomber Crash
Joseph T. Page II
$24.99
Cover image for Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Diego County, isbn: 9781467118361
Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Diego County
Pat G. Macha
$21.99
Cover image for Rhode Island Disasters:, isbn: 9781609491000
Rhode Island Disasters:
Jim Ignasher
$21.99
Peter Zablocki

Terror over Elizabeth, New Jersey

9781467149679

$21.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
With safety protocols in their infancy and the jet engine still in development, early commercial flight above American cities was too often deadly. Between December 1951 and January 1952, three separate plane crashes barreled down onto Elizabeth, New Jersey. Many dozens perished as the crashes destroyed entire city blocks and wreaked havoc throughout various neighborhoods. Frightened residents turned to the nearby Newark Airport for blame as a groundswell of political pushback occurred in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to stop the airport's expansion. President Truman formed an airport safety commission in response that recommended better zoning around airports and runways. Author Peter Zablocki tells the harrowing story of one of the most unique and tragic series of plane crashes in the nation's history.
Cover image for Terror over Elizabeth, New Jersey, isbn: 9781467149679
Pat G. Macha

Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Bernardino County

9781626190122

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Weather, darkness and twists of fate have contributed to more than three hundred airplane crashes in San Bernardino County, California. Many of these accidents occurred in the vast Mojave Desert, others on the cloud-shrouded, snow-capped mountains of the largest county in the lower forty-eight states. Searches often were labored yet fruitless, even for the privileged: Frank Sinatra's mother perished here in a downed plane. The quest for an aircraft containing $5,000 in cash has become the stuff of legend. Tales of survival in uninhabited, rugged landscapes have been especially harrowing. Join renowned aircraft-crash search specialist G. Pat Macha for dozens of sorrowful, triumphant, touching and surprising true stories of those who lived through the ordeals of plane crashes--and others who didn't.
Cover image for Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Bernardino County, isbn: 9781626190122
Nancy E. Sheppard

Airship ROMA Disaster in Hampton Roads, The

9781467119207

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In March 1921, Major John G. Thornell and his crew were detailed to Italy to procure a new experimental airship for the United States Army Air Service. Stationed at Langley Field in Hampton, the ROMA never lived up to expectations despite being heralded as the future of military innovation. Tragically, it crashed and erupted in a ball of fire in 1922, claiming the lives of thirty-four of the brave men aboard.  Author Nancy E. Sheppard reveals the forgotten, harrowing story of one of the last great airships and those who sacrificed for the promise of a new era in aviation.
Cover image for Airship ROMA Disaster in Hampton Roads, The, isbn: 9781467119207
Joseph T. Page II

Albuquerque's 1950 Bomber Crash

9781467151511

$24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%

Piece together the story of Albuquerque's 1950 Broken Arrow disaster from the wreckage of a Superfortress Bomber crash.

On April 11, 1950, at 9:38 p.m., a B-29 aircraft departed Kirtland Air Force Base. Approximately three minutes later, it crashed into the Manzano Foothills, killing everyone aboard.

The Roswell-based aircraft and its thirteen-member crew were ferrying a Mark IV atomic weapon from Kirtland AFB to a Strategic Air Command base in Texas. The incident marked the second nuclear weapons–related accident in the U.S. military, the first accident in the continental United States, and the first of two such accidents near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Author and military historian Joseph T. Page II recalls the lives lost in this tragic crash.

Cover image for Albuquerque's 1950 Bomber Crash, isbn: 9781467151511
Pat G. Macha

Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Diego County

9781467118361

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Clear weather and a natural harbor made San Diego an early aviation hub, but success in flight came with devastating tragedies. The remains of more than four hundred aircrafts lie scattered across the county's deserts and mountains. Experts estimate that dozens more are on the ocean floor off the coast. In 1922, army pilot Charles F. Webber's DeHavilland biplane went missing over Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. In 1978, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 178 collided midair over San Diego and crashed in the residential North Park neighborhood, claiming the lives of 144 people in what was the worst airline disaster of the era. Author and aircraft accident research specialist G. Pat Macha recounts these and other stories of astonishing survival, heroism and heartbreaking fatality.
Cover image for Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Diego County, isbn: 9781467118361
Jim Ignasher

Rhode Island Disasters:

9781609491000

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How could a perfectly sound U.S. military fighter plane simply vanish from formation on a training flight? Why did the crew of a speeding train choose death over salvation? What really happened one foggy night in 1929 when the Coast Guard fired on a rumrunner in Narragansett Bay? Do guardian angels really exist? Can an airplane be jinxed? In his latest book, Jim Ignasher chronicles twenty-three long-forgotten tales of disaster in the Ocean State. His research includes declassified government reports, which allow for some stories to be told in their entirety for the first time. Collectively, these tales present heroes and villains, adventure and the human condition, strange happenings and unsolved mysteries.
Cover image for Rhode Island Disasters:, isbn: 9781609491000