On a day that dawned with brisk breezes, a clear sky, and perfect temperatures, the small town of Texas City suddenly found itself facing the greatest industrial disaster in the most industrialized nation on the planet. And, in time, the survivors of that all-American city found themselves wondering if their own government had delivered them into this hell on earth.
In 1947, Texas City was experiencing boom times, bristling with chemical and oil plants, built to fuel Europe's seemingly endless appetite for the raw materials needed to rebuild its ruined cities. When an explosion ripped through its docks, the effect was cataclysmic. Thousands of people were wounded or killed, the fire department was decimated, planes were shot out of the sky, and massive ocean-bound freighters disintegrated. The blast knocked people to their knees in Galveston, ten miles away; broke windows in Houston, forty miles away; and rattled a seismograph in Denver, Colorado. Chaos reigned, the military was scrambled, the FBI launched investigations -- and ordinary citizens turned into heroes.
For months on end, the brave residents of what had once been an average American town struggled to restore their families, their homes, their lives. And they also struggled to confront another welling nightmare-the possibility that the tragedy that almost erased their city from existence might have been caused by the very government they thought would protect them.
City on Fire is a painstakingly researched saga of one of the most profound but forgotten disasters in American history. The Texas City Disaster was a searing, apocalyptic event that had an enormous ripple effect for millions of people around the world.
It changed the way Americans respond to disasters and the way people viewed the American government -- the Texas City Disaster opened the door for average Americans to confront their government and its leaders in the nation's courts of law. It was the first time that the United States of America was named as a defendant in a case that, after a series of dizzying twists and turns, would end up in the nation's highest court.
Ultimately, the story of Texas City is a story of courage, humanity, bravery, and a painful quest for justice. It is the story of ordinary Americans behaving in extraordinary ways -- and serving as role models for dignity and grace.

City on Fire: The Forgotten Disaster That Devastated a Town and Ignited a Landmark Legal Battle

History

Minutaglio, Bill

Americas

Harpercollins

In 1947, Texas City was booming, bristling with chemical and oil plants built to fuel Europe's seemingly endless appetite for raw materials. In April, two oceangoing freighters holding a combined 3,000-plus tons of ammonium nitrate exploded. The effect was cataclysmic. Thousands of people were wounded or killed, the fire department was decimated, and planes were shot out of the sky. The blast broke windows in Houston, forty miles away, and rattled a seismograph in Denver. Chaos reigned: President Truman dispatched the National Guard, the New York Times sent its war correspondents, and the FBI launched an investigation.
After a heroic recovery and massive relief effort, the brave residents of what had once been an average American town attempted to restore their lives. But they had to confront the possibility that the tragedy might have been caused by the very government they thought would protect them. And for the first time, average citizens confronted their government in the nation's highest court.
City on Fire is a painstakingly researched saga of one of the most profound, but forgotten, disasters in American history.

City on Fire: The Explosion That Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle

Harper Paperbacks

The first and only biography of the most controversial u.s. Attorney general in recent memory
In defiance of expectations, statistics, and stereotypes, Alberto Gonzales has risen to become one of the most powerful men in America. Gonzales has been the nexus for key policy points for the Bush administration, and holds inflammatory and very influential positions on issues that seize and polarize the nation—privacy, capital punishment, and torture.
Gonzales's unyielding loyalty to George W. Bush—during a time when to call his presidency "controversial" would be an understatement of massive proportions—is a fascinating study in the politics of ambition.
From his modest beginnings in Humble, Texas, to his stone-faced refusal to buckle under the pressure of dissenters, The President's Counselor provides never-seen insight into the man whose influence over a very powerful president in very pressing times will undoubtedly impact people here and abroad for years to come.

The President's Counselor: The Rise to Power of Alberto Gonzales (Spanish Edition)

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Rayo

Desafiando las expectativas, estadisticas y estereotipos, Alberto Gonzales se ha convertido en uno de los hombres mas poderosos de America. Gonzales es una figura clave en la administracion de Bush, mantiene puntos de vista espinosos y posiciones muy influyentes acerca de los asuntos que polarizan a la nacion. Su apoyo indiscutible a George W. Bush, cuya presidencia va mas alla de lo controversial, es un estudio fascinante en la politica de la ambicion. Desde su modesto comienzo en Humble, Texas, hasta su rechazo directo a la presion de los disidentes, El Asesor del Presidente, ofrece una nueva perspectiva sobre el hombre cuya influencia sobre uno de los presidentes mas poderosos del mundo impactara, sin duda, no solo este pais sino tambien el resto del mundo.

El Asesor del Presidente: El Ascenso al Poder de Alberto Gonzales

City on Fire: The Explosion that Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle

University of Texas Press

The rich, complex lives of African Americans in Texas were often neglected by the mainstream media, which historically seldom ventured into Houston's Fourth Ward, San Antonio's East Side, South Dallas, or the black neighborhoods in smaller cities. When Bill Minutaglio began writing for Texas newspapers in the 1970s, few large publications had more than a token number of African American journalists, and they barely acknowledged the things of lasting importance to the African American community. Though hardly the most likely reporter—as a white, Italian American transplant from New York City—for the black Texas beat, Minutaglio was drawn to the African American heritage, seeking its soul in churches, on front porches, at juke joints, and anywhere else that people would allow him into their lives. His nationally award-winning writing offered many Americans their first deeper understanding of Texas's singular, complicated African American history.This eclectic collection gathers the best of Minutaglio's writing about the soul of black Texas. He profiles individuals both unknown and famous, including blues legends Lightnin' Hopkins, Amos Milburn, Robert Shaw, and Dr. Hepcat. He looks at neglected, even intentionally hidden, communities. And he wades into the musical undercurrent that touches on African Americans' joys, longings, and frustrations, and the passing of generations. Minutaglio's stories offer an understanding of the sweeping evolution of music, race, and justice in Texas. Moved forward by the musical heartbeat of the blues and defined by the long shadow of racism, the stories measure how far Texas has come . . . or still has to go.

In Search of the Blues: A Journey to the Soul of Black Texas (Southwestern Writers Collection Series, Wittliff Collections at Texas State University)

Arts & Literature

The rich, complex lives of African Americans in Texas were often neglected by the mainstream media, which historically seldom ventured into Houston's Fourth Ward, San Antonio's East Side, South Dallas, or the black neighborhoods in smaller cities. When Bill Minutaglio began writing for Texas newspapers in the 1970s, few large publications had more than a token number of African American journalists, and they barely acknowledged the things of lasting importance to the African American community. Though hardly the most likely reporter—as a white, Italian American transplant from New York City—for the black Texas beat, Minutaglio was drawn to the African American heritage, seeking its soul in churches, on front porches, at juke joints, and anywhere else that people would allow him into their lives. His nationally award-winning writing offered many Americans their first deeper understanding of Texas's singular, complicated African American history.
This eclectic collection gathers the best of Minutaglio's writing about the soul of black Texas. He profiles individuals both unknown and famous, including blues legends Lightnin' Hopkins, Amos Milburn, Robert Shaw, and Dr. Hepcat. He looks at neglected, even intentionally hidden, communities. And he wades into the musical undercurrent that touches on African Americans' joys, longings, and frustrations, and the passing of generations. Minutaglio's stories offer an understanding of the sweeping evolution of music, race, and justice in Texas. Moved forward by the musical heartbeat of the blues and defined by the long shadow of racism, the stories measure how far Texas has come . . . or still has to go.

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.

Three cassettes / approx. 5 hoursThe Bush family represents one of America's most formidable political dynasties--beginning with the election of Prescott Bush to the U.S. senate in 1948 and continuing through 1988, when George W. Bush won a landslide re-election as Governor of Texas and his younger brother Jeb Bush was elected Governor of Florida.  Of course, the generational line between these men of former President George Bush, whose accomplishments have been a daunting factor in the lives of his sons.Veteran Texas reporter and long-time Bush observer Bill Minutaglio has written the most authoritative and insightful work to date on the First Son.  Minutaglio interviewed Bush's friends and family, his old drinking buddies and Yale classmates, associates from his days as an oilman and owner of the Texas Rangers, and the politicians who have seen Bush up close in action.  Minutaglio even gained access to George W. Bush himself.Written with authority, verve and a flair for the wild ways of Texas, First Son will be the political story of 2000.

First Son

Random House Audio |

5 CDs /approx. 5 hours The Bush family represents one of America's most formidable political dynasties--beginning with the election of Prescott Bush to the U.S. senate in 1948 and continuing through 1988, when George W. Bush won a landslide re-election as Governor of Texas and his younger brother Jeb Bush was elected Governor of Florida. Of course, the generational line between these men of former President George Bush, whose accomplishments have been a daunting factor in the lives of his sons. Veteran Texas reporter and long-time Bush observer Bill Minutaglio has written the most authoritative and insightful work to date on the First Son. Minutaglio interviewed Bush's friends and family, his old drinking buddies and Yale classmates, associates from his days as an oilman and owner of the Texas Rangers, and the politicians who have seen Bush up close in action. Minutaglio even gained access to George W. Bush himself. Written with authority, verve and a flair for the wild ways of Texas, First Son will be the political story of 2000.

First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Minutaglio, Bill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Minutaglio, Bill

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Minutaglio, Bill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

City on Fire: The Forgotten Disaster That Devastated a Town and Ignited a Landmark Legal Battle

City on Fire: The Explosion That Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle

The President's Counselor: The Rise to Power of Alberto Gonzales (Spanish Edition)

El Asesor del Presidente: El Ascenso al Poder de Alberto Gonzales

City on Fire: The Explosion that Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle

In Search of the Blues: A Journey to the Soul of Black Texas (Southwestern Writers Collection Series, Wittliff Collections at Texas State University)

In Search of the Blues: A Journey to the Soul of Black Texas (Southwestern Writers Collection Series, Wittliff Collections at Texas State University)

City on Fire: The Explosion that Devastated a Texas Town and Ignited a Historic Legal Battle

First Son

First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty