Stewart O'Nan - The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy
2001 | ISBN: 0385496850 | English | 384 pages | EPUB, MOBI | 11 MB
2001 | ISBN: 0385496850 | English | 384 pages | EPUB, MOBI | 11 MB
The acclaimed author of A Prayer for the Dying brings all his narrative gifts to bear on this gripping account of tragedy and heroism-the great Hartford circus fire of 1944.
Halfway through a midsummer afternoon performance, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus's big top caught fire. The tent had been waterproofed with a mixture of paraffin and gasoline; in seconds it was burning out of control, and more than 8,000 people were trapped inside. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of survivors, O'Nan skillfully re-creates the horrific events and illuminates the psychological oddities of human behavior under stress: the mad scramble for the exits; the hero who tossed dozens of children to safety before being trampled to death.