Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Ship Ablaze : The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum - Ed O'Donnell
eTextbook alternate format product

Instant online reading.
Don't wait for delivery!

Go digital and save!

Ship Ablaze

The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum

By: Ed O'Donnell

Paperback | 8 June 2004 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $33.86

$32.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $8.25 with

 or 

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

There were few experienced swimmers among over 1,300 Lower East Side residents who boarded the "General Slocum" on June 15, 1904. It shouldn't have mattered, since the steamship was chartered only for a languid excursion from Manhattan to Long Island Sound. But a fire erupted minutes into the trip, forcing hundreds of terrified passengers into the water. By the time the captain found a safe shore for landing, 1,021 had perished. "Ship Ablaze" draws on firsthand accounts to examine why the death toll was so high and how the city responded. Masterfully capturing both the horror of the event and the heroism of men, women, and children who faced crumbling life jackets and inaccessible lifeboats as the inferno quickly spread, historian Edward T. O'Donnell brings to life a bygone community while honoring the victims of that forgotten day.

Industry Reviews
"A dramatic and compelling narrative of New York's saddest tragedy before 9/11 . . . a fascinating probe into the inferno that killed hundreds of women and children . . . O'Donnell does a spellbinding job of making the calamity come alive."

--Clive Cussler

"An impressively written account that effectively conveys the horror of New York's second-worst disaster ever."
--Booklist

"Compelling . . . O'Donnell's story is a testament to the strength of a unique people in an equally unique city . . . Unforgettable."

--National Review

More in Historical, Political and Military Biographies

Jane Austen at Home : A Biography - Lucy Worsley

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West - Konstantin Kisin

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Long Walk To Freedom : 'Essential reading' Barack Obama - Nelson Mandela
Henry V : The Astonishing Rise of England's Greatest Warrior King - Dan Jones
100 Diaries That Chronicled World Events - Colin Salter

RRP $44.99

$35.75

21%
OFF
On My Watch : Leading NATO in a Time of War - Jens Stoltenberg

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
How Not to Be a Political Wife - Sarah Vine

RRP $45.00

$36.99

18%
OFF
Fortress Malta : An Island Under Siege 1940-1943 - James Holland
Caesar - Adrian Goldsworthy

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Abandoned Women : Scottish Convicts Exiled Beyond the Seas - Lucy Frost
Mortal Monarchs : 1000 Years of Royal Deaths - Suzie Edge
Entitled : The Rise and Fall of the House of York - Andrew Lownie

RRP $37.99

$28.75

24%
OFF
Midnight : The story of a Light horse - Mark Greenwood

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Fly, Wild Swans : My Mother, Myself and China - Jung Chang

RRP $37.99

$30.75

19%
OFF