The Earth Shook, the Sky Burned: A Photographic Record of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

by William Bronson

Illustrated with more than four hundred on-the-scene photographs, this is the definitive account of the 1906 earthquake and fire that devastated San Francisco.The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned tells the tragic story of the four days of upheaval and destruction that swept San Francisco when a violent earth tremor rocked the land, succeeded rapidly by a devastating fire that destroyed nearly thirty thousand buildings and left more than a quarter million people homeless. William Bronson’s blow-by-blow account is full of dramatic detail and includes a fascinating cast of characters, including Enrico Caruso, John Barrymore, and other turn of the century icons. A classic of San Francisco history, The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned reveals what really happened that April morning when the face of the city was changed forever.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

566 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving historical record of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire in San Francisco. It contains a lot of material from survivors of the event, and is full of terrific pictures covering both the devastation and the methods of coping afterwards. Well written for the most part. One must constantly remember, however, that the book was written in 1959 - it occasionally uses cultural references and language that was prominent in the 1940s-50s, but not acceptable today.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excerpt -- On Human Nature, Post-Natural Disaster
Sight-seeing was the outdoor sport when fire ended.

[Dave Sippel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is exactly what it claims to be: a photographic record of the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake and fire. It is basically a picture book, but the pictures are beautiful. There are some "before" pictures of the city, which helps drive home the point of the severity of the devastation with the "after" pictures.

Text is pretty sparse, but it does present some interesting facts. A graph is provided showing the $474,211.03 sent by foreign governments to the relief effort, broken down by nation. Interestingly, some very wealthy European countries were at the bottom of the list (Germany sent $50, England $6,570.88) while emerging countries sent much more (Japan sent $244,960.10, China sent $40,000).

[Susan Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

For two days in the month of March 2018 , I read this book from cover to cover. Over 250 rare pictures of the San Francisco earth quake on April 18 ,1906.,and after. In the early hours of 5:15 a rolling mtion started the whole catastrophe. If it happened doring the business day, many more would have died. Precious items such a piano were dragged along the streets away from the fires that burned for 4 days. In spite of overwhelming odds, people and agencies helped each other. The spirit of charity and cooperation helped others to stay alive. A must read.

[Damsevine · Rating 4 out of 5]

They used kites to take picture of the wreckage. All the deposits of the fledgling Bank of America were loaded into a horse cart and driven to San Mateo. And then their was this piece of doggerel regarding the warehouse of whiskey distributors, A.P. Hotaling Co.: "If, as they say, God spanked the town for being over frisky / Why did he burn the churches down and save Hotaling's Whisky?"

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read an earlier edition of this fine book in the late 1970s. It inspired me to visit the city to see some of the few remaining buildings or other landmarks left from the 1906 quake and fire.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing collection of pictures and interviews of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

read between summer 1970 & summer 1974

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great collection of photos but the limited text is more a collection of random facts than a comprehensive story. The exclusion of maps seems like an obvious oversight.

[Vince A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

12/6/2016 journal entry: "Well done; a masterwork."
This was the 1959 edition (signed, yo.)