NATIONAL BESTSELLER

The "riveting" (National Post) tick-tock account of the largest manmade explosion in history prior to the atomic bomb, and the equally astonishing tales of survival and heroism that emerged from the ashes

“Enthralling. ... Gripping. ... A captivating and emotionally investing journey.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After steaming out of New York City on December 1, 1917, laden with a staggering three thousand tons of TNT and other explosives, the munitions ship Mont-Blanc fought its way up the Atlantic coast, through waters prowled by enemy U-boats. As it approached the lively port city of Halifax, Mont-Blanc's deadly cargo erupted with the force of 2.9 kilotons of TNT—the most powerful explosion ever visited on a human population, save for HIroshima and Nagasaki. Mont-Blanc was vaporized in one fifteenth of a second; a shockwave leveled the surrounding city. Next came a thirty-five-foot tsunami. Most astounding of all, however, were the incredible tales of survival and heroism that soon emerged from the rubble.

This is the unforgettable story told in John U. Bacon's The Great Halifax Explosion: a ticktock account of fateful decisions that led to doom, the human faces of the blast's 11,000 casualties, and the equally moving individual stories of those who lived and selflessly threw themselves into urgent rescue work that saved thousands.

The shocking scale of the disaster stunned the world, dominating global headlines even amid the calamity of the First World War. Hours after the blast, Boston sent trains and ships filled with doctors, medicine, and money. The explosion would revolutionize pediatric medicine; transform U.S.-Canadian relations; and provide physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who studied the Halifax explosion closely when developing the atomic bomb, with history's only real-world case study demonstrating the lethal power of a weapon of mass destruction.

Mesmerizing and inspiring, Bacon's deeply-researched narrative brings to life the tragedy, bravery, and surprising afterlife of one of the most dramatic events of modern times.

On December 6, 1917, the French munitions ship Mont-Blanc and the Norwegian war-relief vessel Imo collided in the harbour at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The accident sparked a fire and an apocalyptic explosion that was the largest man-made blast prior to the 1945 dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Together with the killer tsunami that followed, the explosion devastated the entire city in the blink of an eye and instantly killed more than two thousand people. 

While much has been written about the disaster, there is still much more to the story that remains untold, including an investigation of the key figures involved, the histories of the colliding ships, and the confluence of circumstances that brought these two vessels together to touch off one of the most tragic disasters of the twentieth century.

The Halifax Explosion is a fresh, revealing account that finally answers questions that have lingered for a century: Was the explosion triggered by simple human error? Did it happen because of the negligence of the ships’ pilots or captains? Was it the result of shortcomings in harbour practices and protocols? Or was the blast—as many people at the time insisted—the result of sabotage carried out by German wartime agents? 

December 6, 2017, marks the centennial of this catastrophic event. The Halifax Explosion reveals the gripping untold story of Canada’s worst disaster, a haunting tale of survival, incredible courage, and, ultimately, the triumph of the human spirit. It is a tale that all Canadians should know and remember.

“A really remarkable book, exactly the kind I love reading. The research was put together with care to create a full portrait of an event and a moment in time -- and written with pace and craft. I just love it. I already want to read it again. I don’t think I can really express my admiration adequately.”