Fire in Boston's Cocoanut Grove; Holocaust! (New edition 1967) by Benzaquin, Paul - 1967

Boston.: Branden Press., 1967. 1st published 1959.. Hard cover. Very good in good dust jacket. Edge and fold tears to jacket, repaired on inside w/ clear tape.. 1 248 p. Red cloth over boards; gold spine titles. Jacket in black w/ dramatic red title "Fire" w/ white smaller titles. 22 cm. B&W photo sections; B&W author photo portrait, back jacket. End papers: red and black 2D building layout. News account by Boston journalist and radio personality Paul Benzaquin. On Piedmont Street stood a multi-roomed Lounge-Restaurant-Dance Floor center until November 28, 1942. The building erupted in flames and in 12 minutes, at least 490 lives were lost. The author is comprehensive in pulling together research, and this edition marks the 25th anniversary of the disaster. Themes of panic and desperation, chaos and fear, but also of courage and ingenuity, innovations by health care workers, and later changes in safety regulations. The result is "a stunning narrative" (from jacket flap). The early printings of this book were quickly sold and out of print. This edition was much in demand even 25 years after the disaster, and its publishing was urged by the Brattle Book Store in Boston. In 1942, emergency disaster response had been in place as part of the World War II city defense planning.