Desperate to bring an end to the Pacific Theater in World War II, the United States unleashed the most powerful and deadly bomb known to humankind at the time. The atomic bomb was a marvel of modern science, but it left a devastating imprint on the world - particularly in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese cities that were chosen as sites for the attacks. The loss of life in these cities was catastrophic. Hundreds of thousands were killed or sickened from exposure to the radiation. More than 60 years after the bombs were dropped, the use of atomic weapons is still debated among nations....

In 1347, Europe was hit by the worst natural disaster in its recorded history: the Black Death. Now believed to be a combination of bubonic plague and two other rarer plague strains, the Black Death ravaged the continent for several terrible years before finally fading away in 1352. Most historians believe that the pandemic, which also swept across parts of Western Asia and North Africa, annihilated 33 to 60 percent of Europe's population - roughly 25 to 45 million men, women, and children. This massive depopulation had a deep impact on the course of European history, speeding up or...

This informative new title tells the true story of a powerful earthquake that roared through San Francisco in 1906.

On May 6, 1937, the celebrated airship Hindenburg caught fire during its landing in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 people. A German zeppelin, the Hindenburg was the largest airship ever built. It made numerous transatlantic journeys, offering passengers comfort and luxury during the years of the Great Depression. What was supposed to be a routine landing on the first transatlantic flight of the season ended in tragedy. Present at the site were many journalists, who were on hand to record the tragedy for the entire world to see, etching the indelible images on the minds of generations to...

On May 31, 1889, the people of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, got the surprise of the century, one that claimed the lives of more than 2,200 men, women, and children. In the mountains that overlooked the booming coal-and-steel town, the restless waters of Lake Conemaugh churned behind the South Fork Dam, a hastily built earthen structure. The soft rain that had been falling that afternoon took an angry turn, filling the belly of Lake Conemaugh over capacity.In a matter of hours, the lake began spilling over the top and ultimately burst its earthen restraints. Like a roaring hurricane, 20 million...

From the sinking of the Titanic to the devastating influenza outbreaks in 1918-1919 to the calamities of Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami, the disasters in history left a legacy in their widespread devastation. This work tells the stories of important historical disasters and explains their impact and the reforms they spurred.