"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."

Examines the devastating earthquake that struck San Francisco in 1906 and the resulting fires that destroyed a large section of the city.

Investigates the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, describing the horrible natural disaster and the subsequent fire that raged through the rubble, killing ten thousand people.

Photographs show conditions in the California city before, during, and after the great disaster of 1906.

Over 3,000 dead. Buildings shaken to the ground. A city, surrounded by water, burnt to the ground. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was one of the most destructive natural disasters the world has ever known. Find out what happened and how the city was repaired in this fascinating book.

A “gripping, can’t-put-it-down” chronicle, drawing on eyewitness reports and historical documents, by the New York Times–bestselling authors of Enola Gay (Los Angeles Herald Examiner). It happened at 5:13 a.m. on April 18, 1906, in San Francisco. To this day, it remains one of the worst natural disasters in American history—and this definitive book brings the full story to vivid life. Using previously unpublished documents from insurance companies, the military, and the Red Cross, as well as the stories of those who were there, The San Francisco Earthquake exposes villains and heroes; shows how the political powers tried to conceal the amount of damage caused by the earthquake; reveals how efforts to contain the fire actually spread it instead; and tells how the military executed people without trial. It also features personal stories of people who experienced it firsthand, including the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, the banker Amadeo Giannini, the writer-adventurer Jack London, the temperamental star John Barrymore, and the thousands of less famous in their struggle for survival. From the authors of The Day the Bubble Burst, The San Francisco Earthquake is an important look at how the city has handled catastrophe in the past—and how it may handle it in the future.