Matthew J Davenport-THE LONGEST MINUTE: The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906

More than 117 years ago, the largest city in the Western U.S. shook, crumbled, burned, and was completely devastated in an incomprehensible show of force by nature. With almost the entire city still asleep, the next 48 seconds sent shockwaves through the city, buckling streets, shattering water mains, collapsing buildings on slumbering residents, and crushing hundreds to death while trapping many alive. Relying on archival sources and hundreds of previously unpublished letters and photographs, Matthew J. Davenport weaves a harrowing tale of the fateful day in his new book, THE LONGEST MINUTE: The Great San Francisco Earth Quake and Fire . ABOUT THE AUTHORMatthew J. Davenport’s first book, First Over There, a finalist for the 2015 Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History, was acclaimed as “a brilliant work for every library” by Library Journal and was heralded by Pulitzer Prize winning historian James McPherson as “military history at its best.” He has been a contributing writer for The Wall Street Journal book review and Salon.com, and is a member of the Authors Guild. A native of Missouri and a former prosecutor, he practices law in North Carolina, where he lives with his wife and two sons. For more info on this book click HERE