Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Book Notes: Cuthbertson on Halifax Explosion


Another anniversary for 2017:  December 6 will mark the centenary of the Halifax Explosion, when the munitions freighter Mont Blanc exploded in the Halifax narrows after a collision, producing a blast that levelled much of north-end Halifax and killed over 2000 people.

Marking the occasion, Patrick Crean Editions at HarperCollins Canada will publish Ken Cuthbertson's The Halifax Explosion in November.

Update, 1 August:  Mark Reynolds draws my attention to Yvette D'Entremont's article on a new doc about the experience of the Halifax School for the Deaf on Gottingen Street in the North End during and after the 1917 explosion.  It also notes a thing called MSL -- Maritime Sign Language -- that is now gradually disappearing as American Sign Language becomes dominant.

Also, I'm reminded that the annual volume of the Champlain Society for 2017 will also be a Halifax explosion book:  "We harbour no evil design," David Sutherland's collection of documents on rehab efforts post-explosion.
 
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