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Time Quest
The Disaster of the Hindenburg: The Last Flight of the Greatest Airship Ever Built
A young cabin boy tells the dramatic story of the Hindenburg's tragic final voyage, in a story that includes interesting facts about modern-day blimps and rare photos of the airship's interior. Reprint.
Paperback
First published October 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 25, 2021
3.5 ⭐
Part history and part historical fiction. Just like other books in Time Quest collection, it's filled with photographs, illustrations and maps that makes reading history interesting and fun.
Part history and part historical fiction. Just like other books in Time Quest collection, it's filled with photographs, illustrations and maps that makes reading history interesting and fun.
December 23, 2024
Very good read; it gives the reader insight into the tumultuous ordeal people went through, packed full of firsthand accounts of the disaster and full of interesting details.
April 15, 2025
Fascinating account of the Hindenburg for young readers.
May 2, 2024
I had read very little about the Hindenberg before reading this book, so this book did a terrific job educating the reader while having characters in it to give the reader a bird's eye view into this event. I thought the author did a wonderful job overall and I enjoyed the illustrations too! I would recommend this for anyone interested in reading about the Hindenberg disaster and anyone who enjoys Shelley Tanaka's books.
December 6, 2012
The Disaster of the Hindenburg by Shelley Tanaka
Rating: **
Bookshelves: ENGL 420
Status: Read in November 2012
Review:
NON-FICTION CATEGORY
Tanaka uses narrative, photos, and sketches to tell the story of the disastrous final flight of The Hidenburg in 1937. The reader knows the eventual ending of the book: that the airship will explode right before landfall in New Jersey; the details of the voyage show the luxury for its time and illustrate some political tensions between Germany and the United States. The narrative is told through the eyes of two teens, Irene Doehner and Werner Franz. Irene is a passenger who does not survives the jump to safety but dies hours later from burn wounds, while Werner is a cabin boy who miraciously survives because he was drenched with water during the explosion. The history of airships as well as the detail of design and procedures provides interesting insight to travel habits of the early 20th century. This book is an quick read with great descriptions and compelling photographs and anecdotes. Books such as these can help teens learn about little-known but interesting events in history without sitting through boring lectures or reading dull accounts. The bright graphics and compelling narratives would attract teens who normally would shy away from historical reads.
Rating: **
Bookshelves: ENGL 420
Status: Read in November 2012
Review:
NON-FICTION CATEGORY
Tanaka uses narrative, photos, and sketches to tell the story of the disastrous final flight of The Hidenburg in 1937. The reader knows the eventual ending of the book: that the airship will explode right before landfall in New Jersey; the details of the voyage show the luxury for its time and illustrate some political tensions between Germany and the United States. The narrative is told through the eyes of two teens, Irene Doehner and Werner Franz. Irene is a passenger who does not survives the jump to safety but dies hours later from burn wounds, while Werner is a cabin boy who miraciously survives because he was drenched with water during the explosion. The history of airships as well as the detail of design and procedures provides interesting insight to travel habits of the early 20th century. This book is an quick read with great descriptions and compelling photographs and anecdotes. Books such as these can help teens learn about little-known but interesting events in history without sitting through boring lectures or reading dull accounts. The bright graphics and compelling narratives would attract teens who normally would shy away from historical reads.
January 18, 2008
the Hindenburg - on its last flight - flew directly over me while I was standing in the water on the New Jersey coast in 1937. Then I saw it getting bigger and coming back.
It had gotten a radio message from Lakehurst that the weather had cleared so this gigantic dirigible made an abrupt turn - that Dr. Hugo Eckner said stressed and snapped a cross wire that cut into the rear hydrogen gas cell making the Zeppelin tail heavy. Captain Ernst Lehman had to constantly shift ballast from then on until the il-fated landing at Lakehurst 20 minutes later. Lehman then also opened the three gas cell covers to vent hydrogen gas for the landing, which Eckner never did. This probably added to the disaster.
It had gotten a radio message from Lakehurst that the weather had cleared so this gigantic dirigible made an abrupt turn - that Dr. Hugo Eckner said stressed and snapped a cross wire that cut into the rear hydrogen gas cell making the Zeppelin tail heavy. Captain Ernst Lehman had to constantly shift ballast from then on until the il-fated landing at Lakehurst 20 minutes later. Lehman then also opened the three gas cell covers to vent hydrogen gas for the landing, which Eckner never did. This probably added to the disaster.
November 27, 2012
*Spoiler Alert* If you get emotionally invested in characters (even in short stories) you may want to skip this read.
It was a very well written informative story of the Hindenburg disaster told by two teenagers, a girl passenger and a cabin boy. There are numerous pictures and descriptions of the different parts of the airship and general history of the time period.
It was a very well written informative story of the Hindenburg disaster told by two teenagers, a girl passenger and a cabin boy. There are numerous pictures and descriptions of the different parts of the airship and general history of the time period.
September 22, 2015
very fun book, I'm not sure is it memoir or a historical fiction???
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December 28, 2017A short basic history about a tragic disaster.and brimming with photographs, engineering detail and short biographies. A perfect read for a snowy night.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews