I am a big military history buff, but I have to admit that I do not recall knowing much about the explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia during World War I. John Bacon’s The Great Halifax Explosion fills in all of the details you may ever want to know about the incident.
Bacon writes about the history of Halifax and its relationship (and greater Canada as well) with the United States. He provides an excellent point of view from a Canadian. Prior to the explosion, Haligonians (and most Canadians) were not too keen on Americans since we always wanted to invade and absorb them into the U.S. This relationship, especially between Halifax and Boston, forever changed after the explosion and Boston’s efforts to assist Haligonians.
Bacon presents a fairly straight forward narrative of the events leading up to, during, and after the explosion. I am particularly struck by his description of the actions of the crew of the French freighter Mont-Blanc. He not only discusses the crew’s abandonment of the ship after the collision, but goes beyond the simple narrative. He asks you to not judge their actions – which partially led to the death of thousands – based on your current position, but to put tyourself in the shoes of the captain and the harbor pilot. Bacon asks if you would do something different in a split second, knowing that your decision could cost you your life.
He juxtaposes the crew’s actions with the actions of train dispatcher Vincent Coleman who sacrificed himself to save hundreds who were on an inbound train right before the explosion. Coleman also had to make a split second decision, but he chose to die to save others. It is a wonderful look at human behavior during a critical time.
Bacon’s writing style is easy to read and follow along with the story. Throughout the book , he points out various decisions and personalities and how those personalities and decisions influenced Halifax and its residents.
A great book on a very unfamiliar subject.
