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]
Filter
2 products
The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top
The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top
A History of Connecticut's Deadliest Tornadoes
A History of Connecticut's Deadliest Tornadoes

The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top

9781626190696

$19.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%

Through firsthand accounts, interviews with survivors and a gripping collection of vintage photographs, author Michael Skidgell attempts to make sense of one of Hartford's worst tragedies.


Almost 7,000 fans eagerly packed into the Ringling Brothers big top on July 6, 1944. With a single careless act, an afternoon at the "Greatest Show on Earth" quickly became one of terror and tragedy as the paraffin-coated circus tent caught fire. Panicked crowds rushed for the few exits, but in minutes, the tent collapsed on those still struggling to escape below. A total of 168 lives were lost, many of them children, with many more injured and forever scarred by the events. Hartford and the surrounding communities reeled in the aftermath as investigators searched for the source of the fire and the responsible parties.

The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top

A History of Connecticut's Deadliest Tornadoes

9781626197893

$21.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
The Wallingford tornado of 1878 took less than two minutes, but it killed at the rate of one person per second. Twisters in Connecticut are incredibly rare, but they're often disastrous and sometimes deadly. The Windsor tornado of 1979 destroyed a field of aircraft that had survived World War II. The 1787 Wethersfield tornado ripped off a barn roof in New Britain, traveled on to Newington and finally subsided in Wethersfield after destroying a family farm. Locals remember the 1989 cyclone that ripped through Hamden and cost the state millions of dollars in repairs. Join local author Robert Hubbard as he shares the tales of these natural disasters and those who witnessed them.
A History of Connecticut's Deadliest Tornadoes