Quotes from Erik Larson

What most likely caused the second event was the rupture of a main steam line, carrying steam under extreme pressure. This was Turner's theory from the beginning.

One line stood out with particular clarity: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

ties knotted to a wasp's waist at his neck.

The city had laid miles and miles of streets and sewers through regions where perhaps one solitary house stood out alone

Beneath the stars the lake lay dark and sombre, but on its shores gleamed and glared in golden radiance the ivory city, beautiful as a poet's dream, silent as a city of the dead.

In shelters, the danger posed by poison gas was a particular concern. People were encouraged to wear their gas masks for thirty minutes a day, so that they would grow accustomed to their use.

36 bottles of Amontillado—Duff Gordon's V.O.; 36 bottles, white wine—Valmur, 1934 [Chablis]; 36 bottles, port—Fonseca, 1912; 36 bottles, claret—Château Léoville Poyferré, 1929; 24 bottles, whisky—Fine Highland Malt; 12 bottles, brandy—Grande Fine Champagne, 1874 [66 years old, same as Churchill]; 36 bottles of champagne—Pommery et Greno, 1926 [Pol Roger, however, remained his favorite].

the fair ' led our people out of the wilderness of the commonplace to new ideas of architectural beauty and nobility.

Three hours into the voyage Kendall saw two of his passengers lingering by a lifeboat. He knew them to be the Robinsons, father and son, returning to America.

following my between-books strategy of reading voraciously and promiscuously. What

Churchill] stood. As he spoke, his voice shook and tears streamed. 'In these days,' he said, 'I often think of Our Lord.' He could say no more. He sat down and looked at no one – the great orator made speechless by the weight of the day. Cowles found herself deeply moved. 'I have never forgotten those simple words and if he enjoyed waging the war let it be remembered that he understood the anguish of it as well.

It was this big talk, not the persistent southwesterly breeze, that had prompted New York editor Charles Anderson Dana to nickname Chicago "the Windy City.

In losing her he lost not merely his main source of companionship but also his primary adviser, whose observations he had found so useful in helping shape his own thinking.

THAT AFTERNOON

disrupting the lives of hidebound bureaucrats. He launched his new

Up to our time," he said, "strict economy in the use of natural resources has not been practiced, but it must be henceforth unless we are immoral enough to impair conditions in

As the crowd thundered, a man eased up beside a thin, pale woman with a bent neck. In the next instant Jane Addams realized her purse was gone. The great fair had begun.

I FIRST STARTED READING about the Lusitania on a whim, following my between-books strategy of reading voraciously and promiscuously.

Churchill's great friend Violet Bonham Carter told him that she had urged Clementine to restrain him from venturing into dangerous zones. "It may be fun for you—but it is terrifying for the rest for us. Please realize that for most of us this war is a One-Man Show (unlike the last) & treat your life like a guarded flame. It does not belong to you alone but to all of us.

Long before the fair's end, people began mourning its inevitable passage. Mary Hartwell Catherwood wrote, "What shall we do when this Wonderland is closed?—when it disappears—when the enchantment comes to an end?" One lady manager, Sallie Cotton of North Carolina, a mother of six children staying in Chicago for the summer, captured in her diary a common worry: that after seeing the fair, "everything will seem small and insignificant.

With the physique of a bank safe, he was the embodiment of quiet strength.

Churchill slept well, not even waking when the all clear sounded at three forty-five A.M. He always slept well. His ability

Let our hopes and aspirations awaken forces which in all time to come shall influence the welfare, the dignity, and the freedom of mankind. - Grover Cleveland

But one thing was quite clear…" he wrote. "[B]eing broke didn't disturb me in the least. I had started with nothing, and if I now found myself with nothing, I was at least even. Actually, I was much better than even: I had had a wonderful time." Bloom went on to become a congressman and one of the crafters of the charter that founded the United Nations.