Greatest Explosions in History: The Fire, Flash and Fury of Natural and Man-Made Disasters

by Ragnar Benson

Book Overview

THE FIRE, FLASH AAND FURY OF NATURAL AND MAN -MADE DISASTERS This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806512784
• ISBN13: 9780806512785
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Citadel Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Ragnar Benson's fascination with explosions, he admits

comes from his early years (and his riding a tank in the military). Here, he presents a number of short accounts of major explosions, some known but most generally not. The chapters are short, easy reading, but contain good detail and some factual accounts of what occurred. The Kraktoa explosion of 1883 begins, and while many may have heard the name, what actually happened is probably not known. The outworldly is also examined, i.e., the 1908 Tunguska explosion, which most now agree was a meteor of some size and not a UFO that burned up on entry. Other historical explosions that should be familiar include the Mont Blanc explosion in Halifax of 1917 and the Texas City disaster 30 years later. There were some devastating explosions in the US that one might not know of until reading this book; I certainly did not know about them. Of greater interest are the explosions that took place in the former Soviet Union, in Sverdlovsk in 1958 and the post-war games blast in 1984, which left the Northern Fleet intact, but without enough ammunition possibly to conduct operations. A very interesting book, and a quick read.