City on Fire

A history of the 1947 disaster that rocked a segregated Texas boomtown and revealed disturbing negligence by the private sector and the US government.

First published in 2003, City on Fire is a gripping, intimate account of the explosions of two ships loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer that demolished Texas City, Texas, in April 1947, in one of the most catastrophic disasters in American history.

“Remarkable. . . . A terrific nonfiction work that has the narrative force of an adventure novel.” —Washington Post

“[Among] the greatest life-or-death tales ever told.” —Esquire 

“City on Fire will stand on its own as one of the finest books ever written about Texas.” —Texas Observer

“Incendiary reading. . . . A harrowing mosaic about a blaze during a time of racial divisions and environmental plundering…evocatively told. . . . The book vividly details the carnage as well as some acts of heroism and selflessness.” —Publishers Weekly

“Riveting . . . Reminiscent of New York City’s rise from the askes after September 11, the chronicle of Texas City’s devastation and resurrection will strike a chord with contemporary readers.” —Booklist
“History at its best, at once thrilling and illuminating. The story of ambition, hubris, tragedy, and bravery . . . is as timeless today in all of America as it was back in Texas more than half a century ago.” —David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story