Non­fic­tion

Tri­an­gle: The Fire That Changed America

David von Drehle
  • From the Publisher
July 2, 2014

Tri­an­gle is a poignant­ly detailed account of the 1911 dis­as­ter that hor­ri­fied the coun­try and changed the course of twen­ti­eth-cen­tu­ry pol­i­tics and labor rela­tions. On March 25, 1911, as work­ers were get­ting ready to leave for the day, a fire broke out in the Tri­an­gle Shirt­waist fac­to­ry in New York’s Green­wich Vil­lage. With­in min­utes it spread to con­sume the building’s upper three sto­ries. Fire­men who arrived at the scene were unable to res­cue those trapped inside: their lad­ders sim­ply weren’t tall enough. Peo­ple on the street watched in hor­ror as des­per­ate work­ers jumped to their deaths. The final toll was 146 peo­ple — 123 of them women. It was the worst dis­as­ter in New York City his­to­ry. Tri­an­gle is a vibrant and immense­ly mov­ing account that Bob Wood­ward calls, A riv­et­ing his­to­ry writ­ten with flare and precision.”

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