Disaster by the Bay: The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906

By H. Paul Jeffers

A colorful city -- eighth largest in the country -- reduced to rubble by a massive earthquake and then consumed by flames... In this vivid, fast-paced chronicle of what has been called the worst... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592281397
• ISBN13: 9781592281398
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellant, readable account of the events

Disaster by the Bay is probably the book you want to read. It's a nice balance between "the facts and nothing but the facts" type and "the gory details type" of book that have begun to appear in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. While The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906: How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself by Philip Fradkin is essentially a thorough discussion of the time, including the politics of the period and the environmental effects of the restoration of the city, Disaster by the Bay by H. Paul Jeffers is a clear and concise presentation of the story itself. The former book will probably appeal more to those with an interest in American history, especially of the westward expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Great Earthquake captures the transitional spirit of the turn of the century, a time when the Industrial Revolution was rapidly creating the modern world with which we are familiar but before the Computer Age had transformed it into the comparatively futuristic world we occupy today. Disaster by the Bay, on the other hand, keeps its eye on the main events of the earthquake and fire. Written by a journalist rather than an historian or geologist, the book keeps to a central them. It is a clear, concise, and tightly controlled piece of writing. It documents the story of a large prosperous city that collapses before the forces of nature but manages to show the pluck of the human spirit in adversity. While the author points out the more obvious issues of racism, classism and political graft, he does not stress them any more than a similar author would those that were apparent on the Titanic in the sea disaster that beset a similar segment of the world's population in 1912. As with the Titanic, there were stories of incredible cowardice, opportunism, and self interest, but also stories of bravery, loyalty, duty, and pride. The author documents much of the activity with personal reports of officials, businessmen, military officials and simple people. Even Teddy Roosevelt gets into the story, with his well known personality helping to set the tone of the age during which the events transpired. An interesting book, more for those interested in a popular account than in a detailed history. Those interested in a more thorough narrative are encouraged to read Fradkin's work.

Outstanding Work!

"Not in history has an city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone!" Jack London said as he looked around and at the trashed city. The day before, at 5:13 a.m. one of the biggest earthquakes in history hit San Francisco for devastating forty-seven seconds, with several aftershocks to follow up the next half hour; as the people of the city hopped out from under beds or from chairs to find what once stood a beautiful city was now a city that was crushed along with the souls of the people of the city. Hundreds of buildings had been leveled; thousands more were on the verge of collapsing, fires now burned here and there throughout the city, which would soon increase into fires blazing to add to the devastation for three days. In this fast-paced, hooking novel the author H. Paul Jeffers provides an exciting, gripping description of the terrifying days in April 1906. Having a wide range of eyewitnesses, Jeffers takes the views of many different individual as they all have different stories on the tragedy of San Francisco. Including celebrities like Enrico Caruso and John Barrymore; the military authorities who tried to bring the people back into control and out of chaos; merchants who struggled heroically to save their shops and goods from the ruins and the flames; the men and women took scraps of paper and wood and wrote to their family members to tell them that they were still alive (all of which, incredibly, the Postal Service actually delivered): from all these and many other perspectives Jeffers has created a masterful book of survival and the after math of one of the biggest tragedies of all time leaving readers from East Coast to West on the edge of their seats.

Fascinating!

I've never been to San Francisco and read this book largely out of curiosity. But I found it fascinating...from the personal descriptions of so many who were there...to pictures depicting the devastation. Well researched and well written.