The Earth Shook The Sky Burned

Presents In Picture And Text, A Chronological Account Of The San Francisco Earthquake And Fire Of April 18, 1906.

Illustrated with more than four hundred on-the-scene photographs, this is the definitive account of the 1906 earthquake and fire that devastated San Francisco. The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned tells the tragic story of the four days of upheaval and destruction that swept San Francisco when a violent earth tremor rocked the land, succeeded rapidly by a devastating fire that destroyed nearly thirty thousand buildings and left more than a quarter million people homeless. William Bronson’s blow-by-blow account is full of dramatic detail and includes a fascinating cast of characters, including Enrico Caruso, John Barrymore, and other turn of the century icons. A classic of San Francisco history, The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned reveals what really happened that April morning when the face of the city was changed forever.

Presents in picture and text, a chronological account of the San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906.

The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned is the dramatic, complete account of the San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906. In the early morning of that day, the sleeping city was rocked by a violent earth tremor that ravaged buildings, heaved streets, and terrified drowsy residents. But worse was to come: the devastating fire that swept across the city for three days. Nearly 30,000 structures were destroyed, and over a quarter million people were left homeless. The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned is a blow-by-blow account of the four days of devastation, not only in San Francisco, but in its adjacent communities. Among the huge cast are Enrico Caruso, who vowed never to return after the quake; John Barrymore, reportedly shaken from a tryst with a young actress; General Frederick Funston, who directed attempts to halt the spreading fire; and Amadeo Giannini, who saved the Bank of Italy’s gold reserves in his horsecart and founded Bank of America after the fire. Illustrated with over 400 on-the-scene photographs, this memorable book reflects the indomitable spirit and vigor of the people who built the West. “Bronson covers every aspect of the disaster in lucid sinewy prose and the selection of a brilliant gallery of pictures...This must rank as the most moving and comprehensive account of the great disaster ever published.”—Los Angeles Times “A fascinating book, and the pictures are magnificent.”—Chicago Sunday Tribune “The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned will make you quake in your boots. The extraordinary story that began on April 18, 1906, has never been told better than what you will find between these covers.”—Michael McCone, Executive Director, The California Historical Society

A solid seller for over a decade, this dramatic account of San Francisco's 1906 earthquake and fire is updated with a contemporary cover. Over 400 on-the-scene photos provide a blow-by-blow account of the violent tremor and the three-day fire that followed, in which nearly 30,000 structures were destroyed and over a quarter million people left homeless."A fascinating book, and the pictures are magnificent." -Chicago Sunday Tribune

"In this well-researched book, Fradkin contends that it was the people of San Francisco, not the forces of nature, who were responsible for the extent of the destruction and death."--"Booklist."

SEVEN YEARS IN SODOM SEVEN FRANCISCO, AN URBAN MISSION REVEALS: - A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF AN URBAN MISSIONARY AND HIS FAMILY. - A HISTORY OF THE CITY AND ITS CHURCHES - A RISE AND FALL OF MANY. - A PLANTING OF A CHURCH - A PATHWAY FEW WOULD DARE TROD. - A DIVIDED CITY - A CHOICE AND A CALL. - A LOOK AT ITS BEAUTY AND ITS DARKSIDE. - A VIEW OF THE CITY'S HEART OR PERHAPS THAT OF A NATION. - A FAITHFUL GOD IN THE MIDST OF HIS PEOPLE. AS TOLD BY THE FORMER "CHAPLAIN OF BROADWAY"

“San Francisco in 1900 was a Gold Rush boomtown settling into a gaudy middle age. . . . It had a pompous new skyline with skyscrapers nearly twenty stories tall, grand hotels, and Victorian mansions on Nob Hill. . . . The wharf bristled with masts and smokestacks from as many as a thousand sailing ships and steamers arriving each year. . . . But the harbor would not be safe for long. Across the Pacific came an unexpected import, bubonic plague. Sailing from China and Hawaii into the unbridged arms of the Golden Gate, it arrived aboard vessels bearing rich cargoes, hopeful immigrants, and infected vermin. The rats slipped out of their shadowy holds, scuttled down the rigging, and alighted on the wharf. Uphill they scurried, insinuating themselves into the heart of the city.” The plague first sailed into San Francisco on the steamer Australia, on the day after New Year’s in 1900. Though the ship passed inspection, some of her stowaways—infected rats—escaped detection and made their way into the city’s sewer system. Two months later, the first human case of bubonic plague surfaced in Chinatown. Initially in charge of the government’s response was Quarantine Officer Dr. Joseph Kinyoun. An intellectually astute but autocratic scientist, Kinyoun lacked the diplomatic skill to manage the public health crisis successfully. He correctly diagnosed the plague, but because of his quarantine efforts, he was branded an alarmist and a racist, and was forced from his post. When a second epidemic erupted five years later, the more self-possessed and charming Dr. Rupert Blue was placed in command. He won the trust of San Franciscans by shifting the government’s attack on the plague from the cool remove of the laboratory onto the streets, among the people it affected. Blue preached sanitation to contain the disease, but it was only when he focused his attack on the newly discovered source of the plague, infected rats and their fleas, that he finally eradicated it—truly one of the great, if little known, triumphs in American public health history. With stunning narrative immediacy fortified by rich research, Marilyn Chase transports us to the city during the late Victorian age—a roiling melting pot of races and cultures that, nearly destroyed by an earthquake, was reborn, thanks in no small part to Rupert Blue and his motley band of pied pipers.