City on Fire: The Explosion that Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle

City on Fire: The Explosion that Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle

by Bill Minutaglio
City on Fire: The Explosion that Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle

City on Fire: The Explosion that Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle

by Bill Minutaglio

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Overview

A history of the 1947 disaster that rocked a segregated Texas boomtown and revealed disturbing negligence by the private sector and the US government.

First published in 2003, City on Fire is a gripping, intimate account of the explosions of two ships loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer that demolished Texas City, Texas, in April 1947, in one of the most catastrophic disasters in American history.

“Remarkable. . . . A terrific nonfiction work that has the narrative force of an adventure novel.” —Washington Post

“[Among] the greatest life-or-death tales ever told.” —Esquire 

City on Fire will stand on its own as one of the finest books ever written about Texas.” —Texas Observer

“Incendiary reading. . . . A harrowing mosaic about a blaze during a time of racial divisions and environmental plundering…evocatively told. . . . The book vividly details the carnage as well as some acts of heroism and selflessness.” —Publishers Weekly

“Riveting . . . Reminiscent of New York City’s rise from the askes after September 11, the chronicle of Texas City’s devastation and resurrection will strike a chord with contemporary readers.” —Booklist

“History at its best, at once thrilling and illuminating. The story of ambition, hubris, tragedy, and bravery . . . is as timeless today in all of America as it was back in Texas more than half a century ago.” —David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780292761056
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication date: 02/24/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 312
Sales rank: 626,834
File size: 5 MB

About the Author

Bill Minutaglio is the author of the highly acclaimed biography of President George W. Bush, First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty. He has won numerous national awards and has written for the New York Times, Talk, Outside, the Los Angeles Times, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist. He lives in the Texas hill country with his two children and his wife, the choreographer Holly Williams.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Texas City Police Department
  • The Priest: April 7, 1947
  • The Voyage: April 7, 1947
  • The Priest: April 8, 1947
  • The Ship: April 8, 1947
  • The Company: April 9, 1947
  • The Ship: April 9, 1947
  • The Priest: April 9, 1947
  • The Ship: April 10, 1947
  • The Mayor: April 10, 1947
  • The Ship: April 10, 1947
  • The Mayor: April 10, 1947
  • The Warning: April 14, 1947
  • The Ship: April 14, 1947
  • The Priest: April 16, 1947, 6:00 A.M.-9:12 A.M.
  • The People: April 16, 1947, 6:00 A.M.-9:12 A.M.
  • The First Words from Texas City: April 16, 1947, 9:12 A.M.
  • The Scientist: April 16, 9:12 A.M.
  • The Mayor: April 16, 1947, 9:12 A.M.
  • The City: April 16, 9:12 A.M.
  • The Mayor
  • The People: April 16, 1947, 9:12 A.M.
  • Photo Section
  • The Priest: April 16
  • The Second Explosion: April 16, 10:00 A.M.-Midnight
  • The President: April 17, 1947
  • The City: April 17, 1947
  • The City: April 18, 1947
  • The Gangster: April 19, 1947
  • The Priest: April 24, 1947
  • The Unknown Dead: June 22, 1947
  • The Mayor: August 23, 1947
  • “United States of America, Defendant”: April 1948
  • The Trial: April 1950
  • “By Direction of the President of the United States”: 1949-1952
  • The King Can Do no Wrong: Summer 1953
  • “Speak Freely”: Fall 1953
  • “Pleased to Advise”: 1954-1955
  • Good People: April 2001
  • Acknowledgments
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