The Great San Francisco Earthquake (on DVD)

The Great San Francisco Earthquake
[DVD 979.46 Ame]

This episode of the popular PBS series American Experience utilizes actual old film footage as well as photographs and survivor interviews to encapsulate one of the biggest of American catastrophes. Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham narrates. I found the background music choices a bit odd and distracting at times but this is a nice synopsis of the whats and whys of this major historical event. Interestingly, the very same photo is used for the cover of this DVD and the cover of the suggested companion book. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Disaster! The great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, by Dan Kurzman] -- recommended by Becky W.C. - Walt Branch Library

[ The Great San Francisco Earthquake page on the PBS American Experience web site ]

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Disaster! The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906

Disaster! The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906
by Dan Kurzman [979.461 Kur]

Kurzman is an award-winning former reporter and native San Franciscan. He takes us on a journey from shortly before this devastating event to several years after. Highlighting the stories of certain individuals among the mainstream chain of events gives this a sense of immediacy and intimacy. Find out how people such as world-famous operatic star Enrico Caruso, renowned actor John Barrymore, and ten-year-old Del Crespi, lovesick boy and future baseball star, each coped with the catastrophe. Or how Italian-American banker Amadeo Giannini made fortuitous choices about what to do with his overnight deposits. Then there was the power struggle between the corrupt mayor and the autocratic general. It's an intriguing digest of one of America's best known large-scale tragedies. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to watch The Great San Francisco Earthquake, an episode of PBS's American Experience (DVD 979.46 Ame)] -- recommended by Becky W.C. - Walt Branch Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.