Book reviews

Ship Ablaze
Edward T. O'Donnell Book Review

Read a book review online (click here to search reviews)
Books Movies  
Sci-Fi/Fantasy Mystery/Thriller Literature Romance Biography History
Edward T. O'Donnell Books
New book search
Edward T. O'Donnell Message Board
Get more information about this book
Plot Summary of Ship Ablaze
"On a warm spring day in June 1904, the steamboat "General Slocum" left its dock in New York City's East River, carrying members of a German-American church group on a holiday excursion to Long Island. Most of the passengers were poor, working-class citizens from a single neighborhood, and they were predominantly women and children, since the excursion took place on a weekday, when the men had to work. Within minutes after departing, the ship caught fire, and the combination of the speed with which the fire spread, the lack of adequate fire prevention equipment, the uselessness of the years-old lifejackets, and the incompetence of the crew led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people, the greatest loss of life in New York history prior to 9/11.

The "General Slocum" fire was a tragedy in the truest sense of the word, and O'Donnell provides all of the details of this easily preventable disaster. In addition to providing a minute-by-minute account of the blaze and its aftermath, he offers insightful, sympathetic portraits of the various passengers on the trip, and he shows how the tragedy affected the families and their community – and, ironically, how the disaster ended up having little effect on establishing laws and regulations that might have prevented other ship disasters.
"
James Keenley, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Ship Ablaze
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Kind Of History
Time of history: - 20th century
History of disaster/tragedy? Yes
Kind of disaster: - Boat/Dicaprio event
Nationality? - American--Northeast

Subjects of this Historical Account
Is the portrayal sympathetic? - Sympathetic
Intelligence of subject of history: - Smart

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
Big City? Yes
City: - New York

Style
How much gore? - 6 (an above average amount)
How fast-paced is the book? - 8 (a significant amount)
Book makes you feel... - depressed/sad
How much focus on stories of individuals? - Focuses on brief history of a lot of players
Pictures/Illustrations? - A handful
Maps necessary? - Necessary maps provided
Length of book - 350-400 pages
How much emphasis on small details? - 7 (a good amount)
Most similar books to Ship Ablaze
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle
White Death; Blizzard of '77 by Erno Rossi
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by Dominique Lapierre
The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage by Mark Klempner


Click here for more information about this book


Edward T. O'Donnell Resident Scholar Profiles

 TOP SCHOLAR:
  James Keenley  

SCHOLARS:


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
Three ways to search for History (in beta) books!

1) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot or subplot below!

Economic History?

History of a journey/colonization?

History of a people?

History of a science?

History of Art?

History of cloak & dagger?

History of disaster/tragedy?

History of food?

History of military?

History of religion?

History of words/phrases?

Social history?



or 2) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
3) Even more search options available with a Detailed Booksearch (click here)

Use our site!
Feedback
About us
Bribe your congressman!
Rudy Giuliani



Most recent discussions:

General Book Talk
Book writing discussion
Off-topic message board
.
Lilian Jackson Braun 11:58:30 AM
David Gerrold 10:41:17 AM
Deric Longden 8:34:00 AM
Suzanne Collins 7:47:38 AM
Mary Higgins Clark 3:41:53 AM
Eloise Jarvis McGraw 2:17:46 AM
Laurie Halse Anderson 1:29:18 AM
Alicia Appleman-Jurman 11:51:40 PM
David Pelzer 11:42:52 PM
Lorri Hewett 9:14:18 PM
Ellen Hopkins 8:48:11 PM
George W. Bush 7:43:57 PM
J.K. Rowling 6:03:45 PM
Christina Crawford 5:33:22 PM
General Discussion (All Topics) 4:53:38 PM
Janet Evanovich 4:47:57 PM
Erin Hunters 4:04:59 PM
Anna Fynn 2:53:32 PM
Iris Johanson 12:45:32 PM
Robert Segarra 10:42:54 AM

More message boards