The Longest Minute: The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906

Historian Davenport (First Over There) provides a terrifying and propulsive account of the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Drawing on hundreds of firsthand accounts, court transcripts, and official reports, Davenport outlines the treacherous blow-by-blow of the destruction caused by the 7.9 magnitude quake, which struck at 5:12 a.m. and caught most residents in their beds, as well as the three-day firestorm that followed, both of which combined killed more than 3,000 people and left a quarter million homeless. Ten percent of the U.S. Armed Forces played a role in the response, and more than 300,000 passengers were evacuated by train and ferry to refugee camps in surrounding communities. In what proved to be among the earliest of such partnerships, federal aid and private largesse combined to an unprecedented extent to help the hundreds of thousands of those in need. Davenport seamlessly weaves detailed technical explanations of city infrastructure (the failure of the water mains and the composition of buildings worsened the fire) into gut-churning scenes, often drawing from primary sources to harrowing effect (“Legs and arms were sticking out here and there to guide us,” wrote one rescue worker of his efforts to uncover bodies from the rubble). It’s a vivid and meticulous recounting of one of America’s largest natural disasters. (Oct.)