Here is Jay Robert Nash's exhaustive chronology of world disaster's—900 disasters, from sinking ships to famines treated in-depth, often accompanied by eye-witness accounts and illustrations. But Darkest Hour is no mere listing, no dry catalog of events. In hundreds of instances Nash's research led him behind the event itself to the intensely human story of reactions to catastrophe. He has put together fascinating accounts of incredible courage and heroism.
In the Anchorage, Alaska quake of 1964: "Dr. Perry Mead, Anchorage's only neurosurgeon, was operating on victims when he was told his twelve year-old son had attempted to rescue his baby brother and had been killed along with the baby. The valiant doctor, tears streaming down his face, continued his operation." Nash has also recorded equally compelling tales of extreme cowardice, avarice and greed.
The descriptive accounts cover air crashes, mine disasters, storms, catastrophes at sea, train wrecks, and many others. In most cases, a prerequisite for inclusion in the general narrative was that the event must have taken the lives of twenty or more persons.
An invaluable reference tool for both specialists and the general public, Darkest Hours also makes intriguing reading in its own right.