World Disasters

At the beginning of 1940 Germany was at the pinnacle of its power. By May 1945 Hitler was dead and Germany had suffered a disastrous defeat. Hitler had failed to achieve his aim of making Germany a super power and had left its people to cope with the endless shame of the Holocaust. In The Hitler Years - Disaster 1940-1945, Professor Frank McDonough charts the dramatic change of fortune for the Third Reich and challenges long-held accounts of the Holocaust and Germany's ultimate defeat.

Haiti’s state is near-collapse: armed groups have overrun the country, many government officials have fled after the 2021 assassination of President Moise, refugees desperately set out on boats to reach the US and Latin America, and the economy reels from the after-effects of disasters that destroyed much of Haiti’s infrastructure. How did a nation founded on liberation come to such a precipice? Jake Johnston, researcher and writer at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, reveals how US and European capitalist goals re-enslaved Haiti under the guise of helping it.

On October 30, 1938, rising radio star Orson Welles boondoggles the American public into believing that Martians have attacked Earth. With his clever adaptation of The War of the Worlds, the great showman proves he can get away with anything - maybe even murder. Minutes before the fictitious invasion goes live on the air, a dead body is found in the studio and the polarizing Welles is the obvious suspect.

In the best-selling tradition of Indianapolis and In Harm’s Way comes a “captivating...gripping” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) account of the USS Plunkett - a US Navy destroyer that sustained the most harrowing attack on any Navy ship by the Germans during World War II, later made famous by John Ford and Herman Wouk.

We think we know the story of the Titanic—the once majestic and supposedly unsinkable ship that struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Britain to America—but very little has been written about the vessel’s 705 survivors. How did the events of that horrific night in the icy waters of the North Atlantic affect the lives of those who lived to tell the tale? Drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished letters, memoirs, diaries, and interviews with their family members, award-winning journalist Andrew Wilson brings to life the survivors’ colorful voices.

The society is dangerously polarized. Violent mobs hit the streets. Some whispered a civil war was coming. Then the bombs went off. Survivors recruited people to armed resistance, in Manhattan, Boston, and Valley Forge. The globalist enemy knows who to target. The hunt is on, but the resistance is wily, and supplied with technology from a billionaire industrialist. John Clancy’s books are gaining traction. He’s now a target. So is his brother-in-law Craig, who has a budding career as a political columnist. And up in Boston, the resistance base has been discovered. Will they get away in ...

In the tenth book of the Capital Mysteries—an early chapter book mystery series featuring fun facts and famous sites from Washington, D.C.—KC and her best friend, Marshall, wake up to a trick not a treat the morning after the White House Halloween costume party. With the presidential election only a week away, someone has posted damaging photos of the president on the Internet, photos that were digitally doctored! Will they ruin President Thornton's chances for a second term? Or can KC and Marshall rescue the election?

In 1956, a stunned world watched as the famous Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria sank after being struck by a Swedish vessel off the coast of Nantucket. Unlike the Titanic, this sinking played out in real time across radios and televisions, the first disaster of the modern age. Audiences witnessed it all: the unthinkable collision of two modern vessels equipped with radar; perilous hours of uncertainty; the heroic rescue of passengers, and the final gasp as the pride of the Italian fleet slipped beneath the Atlantic, taking some 50 lives with her.

The Earth had buckled, and, in that movement, all that was not in its place fell upon the Earth’s children, upon the blameless as well as the guilty, without discrimination. At the end of a long sweltering day, as markets and businesses begin to close for the evening, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster

Building resilience - the ability to bounce back more quickly and effectively - is an urgent social and economic issue. Our interconnected world is susceptible to sudden and dramatic shocks and stresses: a cyber-attack, a new strain of virus, a structural failure, a violent storm, a civil disturbance, an economic blow. Judith Rodin shows how people, organizations, businesses, communities, and cities have developed resilience in the face of otherwise catastrophic challenges.

After a long and eventful return trip from Michigan to Alaska, Chase and Haylee finally make it home with both sets of their parents—just in time for what might be even worse than they’d already encountered in the Lower 48. Join them in a struggle most Americans can’t even begin to fathom—how to survive during a foreign invasion!

On June 23, 2018, 12 members of the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach were exploring the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand when disaster struck. A rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels, trapping them as they took shelter on a shelf of the dark cave. Eight days of searching yielded no signs of life, but on July 2, they were discovered by two British divers. This is the incredible true story of their inspiring rescue. Award-winning author Marc Aronson brings us the backstory behind how this astounding rescue took place.

In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich "Puertopians" are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. In this vital and startling investigation, The New York Times best-selling author and activist Naomi Klein uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation's radical, resilient vision for a just recovery.

On May 29, 1914, after a collision in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Empress of Ireland sank in minutes, taking 1,012 passengers and crew to their deaths. The disaster shocked the world but then was forgotten with the torpedoing of the Lusitania and the engulfing cataclysm of World War I. Now, in Dark Descent, acclaimed author and diver Kevin McMurray revives the story of this forgotten maritime catastrophe.

On May 2, 2008, an enormous tropical cyclone made landfall in Burma, wreaking untold havoc and leaving an official toll of 138,300 dead and missing. In the days that followed, the sheer scale of the disaster became apparent as information began to seep out from the hard-hit delta area.

Sophie knew real fear and never more so than now. They had to escape the increasing danger...and that meant leaving their home. Their options were few...staying could be deadly. She knew disappearing wasn’t enough...they needed a safe place. Somewhere no one would ever think to look. She’d hoped their grandmother’s house would be safe...that didn’t work out. Caleb was determined to keep his best friend’s widow and children safe. But first he had to find them. Travel with Caleb, Sophie and her family on an inspirational saga that will rivet you with heart-wrenching moments of drama...

Lance was just trying to get through his terrible day when his world came crashing down. As the blazing sun dipped below the horizon, Lance's heart pounded in his chest, each beat pushing him closer to the edge of desperation. Racing against time and a cosmic cataclysm, he must navigate a ravaged world after a monstrous CME strikes the Earth, plunging it into darkness. But this harrowing journey is not solely to survive the aftermath; it's a race to reach his injured father in distant Kansas, where a lonely farmhouse stands as their last beacon of hope.

April brings new challenges to Logan and Abbi as they work tirelessly with a group of volunteers to restore and rebuild the damaged infrastructure and housing in Alaska after the Russian invasion ends. Meanwhile, many people from the northern portion of the Lower 48 are migrating up through Canada in search of a better life in Alaska, but are restricted to specific routes and stopped from settling anywhere.

In Bending Adversity, Financial Times Asia editor David Pilling presents a fresh vision of Japan, drawing on his own deep experience, as well as observations from a cross section of Japanese citizenry, including novelist Haruki Murakami, former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, industrialists and bankers, activists and artists, teenagers and octogenarians. Through their voices, Pilling captures the dynamism and diversity of contemporary Japan.

Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not here to scare you. But if you’ve ever sat in the dark with a dead phone, a melting freezer, and zero clue what to do next—you already know a little fear can be useful. That flicker of “uh-oh” is your brain telling you it’s time to do something. Ideally before the lights go out, but hey, better late than never. Power outages aren’t rare anymore. Storms hit harder, grids fail more often, and sometimes things just fall apart. One minute you’re reheating leftovers and scrolling social media, the next you’re using a headlamp to check if ...