Disaster Nonfiction

""The most thoughtful and judicious one-volume history of the war and the American political leaders who presided over the difficult and painful decisions that shaped this history. The book will stand for the foreseeable future as the best study of the tragic mistakes that led to so much...

San Francisco, 5:12 A.M., and the First Hour of the 1906 Earthquake What happens when an entire city loses trust in the ground beneath its feet? At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, San Francisco awoke to one of the most devastating natural disasters in American history. In less than a minute, homes shattered, hotels collapsed, streets split apart, and thousands of lives changed forever. But the earthquake was only the beginning. In The Minute the City Broke, historian and storyteller Keegan Wright takes readers deep inside the first sixty minutes of the catastrophe—minute by minute, street by...

Air travel is one of the safest methods of transportation, but when a disaster happens, it captures the public's imagination. Learn about how airplanes are built, how researchers investigate a crash, how engineers are making planes safer, and more.

When the Titanic was built, many people thought the massive ship was unsinkable. Today it rests on the ocean floor. Learn about why ships sink and how past disasters and modern technology have led to safer ships.

An eight-audiobook collection from the creators of the New York Times Best-Selling What Was? series that details the most famous disasters in history, including the Titanic, Pompeii, and the Great Depression. Perfect for curious young listeners, these eight titles provide exciting details about...

A powerful nonfiction book that explains the science, history, and human cost of tsunamis — and why the next one could be deadlier than the last. Tsunamis are not just waves — they are sudden, unforgiving forces capable of wiping out entire cities in minutes. Tidal Waves & Tsunamis: The Science and Fury of the World’s Most Devastating Waves takes readers on a gripping journey into how these events happen, what causes them, and why modern civilization is more at risk than ever. From the 2004 Indian Ocean catastrophe to future megatsunami threats, this book covers: The science of wave ...

A modern cruise liner. Calm seas. Land in sight. And one of the most avoidable maritime disasters in modern history. On 13 January 2012, the Costa Concordia struck rock off the coast of Giglio, Italy. What followed was not simply a shipwreck, but the collapse of command, the failure of truth under pressure, and the exposure of how fragile modern systems become when leadership breaks at the centre. In Costa Concordia: The Disaster That Exposed the Illusion of Safety, Gordon J. MacKenzie tells the full story of the disaster as a study in illusion, risk, and institutional failure. This is not ...

Normalcy is a fragile thing. For the people in these twenty real-life accounts, it shattered in an instant. What happens when the ground opens up, the sky falls, or a wall of fire consumes everything in its path? When the mundane world of deadlines and daily routines is replaced by a desperate fight for the next breath? SURVIVING - Disasters places you directly into the heart of catastrophe. Journey alongside ordinary people—parents, teachers, and commuters—thrown into the most extreme situations imaginable. From catastrophic tsunamis and terrifying wildfires to sudden building ...

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were...

50 Cases and over 300 pages of Medical Malpractice. “When Trust Turns to Tragedy” Every day, we put our lives in the hands of medical professionals. We trust that the surgeon holding the scalpel, the doctor reading our charts, and the nurse administering medication are competent, careful, and committed to our well-being. Most are. But sometimes, that trust is betrayed — not by malice, but by something more dangerous: negligence, ego, burnout, or systematic failure. Medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States, yet many of these cases remain buried in ...

The Second Night at Sea: Why Most Survivors Never Make It Home A Documentary Survival Narrative from Commander Puzzles The ship is gone. The horizon is endless. And the real danger is only beginning. When a commercial freighter slips beneath the surface without warning, a small group of survivors finds themselves alone on the open ocean — suspended between hope and the vast, indifferent sea. At first, relief carries them. They escaped. They are alive. But seasoned rescue professionals understand a chilling truth: Most survivors are not lost in the moment of disaster… they are lost in ...

In a tour de force of historical reportage, Timothy Egan’s National Book Award–winning story rescues an iconic chapter of American history from the shadows. The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since...

The second in the critically acclaimed “vivid, heart-stopping, and unforgettable” (Craig Whitlock, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Targeted nonfiction series examining the devastating terrorist attacks that changed the course of history from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack...

It’s December 1997, and a man-eating tiger is on the prowl outside a remote village in Russia’s Far East. The tiger isn’t just killing people, it’s annihilating them, and a team of men and their dogs must hunt it on foot through the forest in the brutal cold. As the trackers sift through...

A historical nonfiction novella about the most chaotic Olympic race America ever staged. At the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, thirty-two men lined up for an Olympic marathon that should have been difficult, dramatic, and respectable. It became something else entirely. The course stretched nearly twenty-five miles through heat, hills, choking dust, bad roads, and worse planning. The runners were given only two water stops. Official vehicles kicked stone dust into their lungs. One competitor rode eleven miles in a car and nearly received the winner’s crown. Another ran in street clothes...

Every creature on this planet operates under a contract. The wild does not negotiate. Step into twenty harrowing cases where the line between human sentiment and biological imperative is violently crossed. From a massive captive orca in a concrete tank to a grizzly bear hunting in the deep timber, these meticulously researched accounts reveal the terrifying reality of nature at its most indifferent. We constantly forget the rules of the wild. We build parks around apex carnivores and call the fences a relationship. We swim in oceans that belong to something faster and stronger. We pitch ...

In 1927, while the majority of the township of Bath, Michigan, was celebrating a new primary school - one of the most modern in the Midwest - Andrew P. Kehoe had other plans. The local farmer and school board treasurer was educated, respected, and an accommodating neighbor and friend. But behind his ordinary demeanor was a narcissistic sadist seething with rage, resentment, and paranoia. On May 18 he detonated a set of rigged explosives with the sole purpose of destroying the school and everyone in it.

ARE YOU SICK OF "Trivia" Books filled with UNVERIFIED internet rumors and JUVENILE jokes that INSULT your intelligence? If so, The Distinguished Bathroom Reader is your new essential companion. Welcome to the only room in your house where you are permitted to lock the door and ignore your family. In a world of noise and distraction, the bathroom is your last haven of solitude. My name is Viscount Loo, and I represent a syndicate of rigorously educated individuals dedicated to saving the modern gentleman from the indignity of boredom. We have curated a gentleman's guide to productive privacy...

Book 9 in the Our Scary History series, this volume continues the focus on real events that ripped the land apart and left permanent marks on history. Reports and accounts from deadly volcanoes, floods, earthquakes, and disasters that reshaped entire regions between 1750 and 1930, drawn from historical records of the time. Many of these events occurred before modern rescue equipment, trained emergency crews, or coordinated relief systems existed. In avalanches, floods, collapses, and sinkholes, entire groups of people sometimes vanished without trace. Survivors reported hearing voices ...

"In an understated performance, Simon Vance details one of the stunning tragedies arising from the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011...Vance's steady pacing, crisp enunciation, and careful inflection enhance the weight of the story, which moves between reportage and interviews, and ultimately...