Like the explosions it describes, Minutaglio's account is incendiary reading. Two oceangoing freighters loaded with ammonium nitrate leveled a factory town in 1947. Was it an atomic blast? Terrorism? Judgment Day? The author (First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty) assembles a harrowing mosaic about a blaze during a time of racial divisions and environmental plundering amid petrochemical companies that virtually ruled Texas City, Tex. He pauses to fill in the manufacturing town's pivotal role in WWII and sketches the principals involved in the gargantuan fire. From a priest beset with apocalyptic visions to a battle-scarred mayor, these and other residents come to life. The impact of the story is marred only by slight gaffes: Minutaglio sometimes switches between past tense and present without clear reason. Nonetheless, this tale is evocatively told. His hard-edged prose brands scores of images on readers' minds: the beheaded statue of Mary; a naked father clutching onto his charred automobile; the longshoreman delivered to the morgue even though he isn't dead; and so many more. The book vividly details the carnage as well as some acts of heroism and selflessness.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
On April 16, 1947, two huge explosions rocked the port city of Texas City, TX, killing 600 people, injuring thousands more, leveling houses and buildings, and soaking the landscape with toxic chemicals. Cold War sabotage was initially suspected, but the true culprit was a shipment of ammonium nitrate, a chemical that can be a fertilizer or a deadly explosive. The chemical was being manufactured and shipped by the government with no warning label or instructions for safe handling. Angry at this negligence, attorney Russel Markwell brought the first-ever civil class action suit against the U.S. government under the Federal Tort Claims Act and won. Though the victory was overturned on appeal as a dangerous precedent, the government's responsibility wasn't in doubt. Over two thirds of the book is a poignant present-tense account of the hours before, during, and after the explosion, bringing to life the horror, pain, and bravery of the people of Texas City. The account of the lawsuit is secondary, as it should be. This terrible story deserves this passionate retelling. For all collections.
Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Minutaglio meticulously recounts the horrific fire that consumed Texas City, Texas, in 1947. The fire, ignited by freighters carrying approximately 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate bound for Europe as part of the U.S. postwar relief effort, claimed more than 700 lives, injured nearly 5,000 others, and virtually destroyed a once-thriving port city. The author interweaves heartwrenching personal experiences with the collective story of a town attempting to recover from a monumental tragedy. Culminating in the landmark lawsuit brought by the surviving residents of Texas City against the U.S. government for negligence, this riveting account of catastrophe and heroism also details the first legal case in which the courts held the U.S. government accountable for its actions. Reminiscent of New York City's rise from the ashes after September 11, the chronicle of Texas City's devastation and resurrection will strike a chord with contemporary readers. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A remarkable re-creation.a terrific nonfiction work that has the narrative force of an adventure novel." (Washington Post)
About the Author
Bill Minutaglio is the author of the highly acclaimed biography of President George W. Bush, First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty. He has won numerous national awards and has written for the New York Times, Talk, Outside, the Los Angeles Times, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist. He lives in the Texas hill country with his two children and his wife, the choreographer Holly Williams.
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