Rating: 
Summary: When Government Fails to Act.
Review: An excellent reporting of a little known tragedy. The intimacies provided by the narrative style of the book draws the reader into a moment by moment experience of thirty minutes of horror. The chilling aspect of so many of our fellow-citizens lost in such a flash is equaled by the cover-up that commenced almost before the last ember was extinguished. As with so much of American history the meaning of the Iroquois Theater Fire is defined by the value of property over life. This book is worthy of reading for the historical counterpoint to the current drive in which the civic rights to safety in the market place is being aggressively replaced with denial of access to justice.
Rating:
Summary: When Government Fails to Act.
Review: An excellent reporting of a little known tragedy. The intimacies provided by the narrative style of the book draws the reader into a moment by moment experience of thirty minutes of horror. The chilling aspect of so many of our fellow-citizens lost in such a flash is equaled by the cover-up that commenced almost before the last ember was extinguished. As with so much of American history the meaning of the Iroquois Theater Fire is defined by the value of property over life. This book is worthy of reading for the historical counterpoint to the current drive in which the civic rights to safety in the market place is being aggressively replaced with denial of access to justice.
Rating:
Summary: Fire returns to Chicago
Review: Chicago is certainly well known for the fire of 1871 but how many people have ever heard of the fire which swept through the Iroquois Theatre thirty-two years later, leaving six hundred people dead in its wake? I admit that I never had heard about it so with Nat Brandt's excellent new book, "Chicago Death Trap", the lives of those lost and the hundreds of families that the tragedy touched can now be told.The author is direct and writes in a sparse, conservative tone that works well. Within the covers of this small book, Brandt, after some good preparation about the Iroquois Theatre itself and the men behind it, spells out the details of the fire....how it started, how it spread, how it affected the cast and stagehands, (the performers were giving a presentation of the comedy, "Mr. Bluebeard", starring Eddie Foy, Sr.) and finally how people in a sudden and severe panic tried to saved themselves. This is not an easy book to read but I give the author credit....it is also not an easy book to put down. Brandt gives human faces to those who escaped and those who did not. He tells of incredible rescues and how the city responded moments after the fire started and days and weeks after the finger of blame began to point in all directions. He describes makeshift morgues and those who came to identify loved ones...if they could at all. He recounts the ramifications faced by officials and the theatre owners after the tragedy. The horrors are so individualized...down to the items of clothing and personal items worn by those in the theatre that afternoon. It is perhaps toward the very end of this book that Nat Brandt makes his most poignant point... that other than a cemetery monument and a City Hall bas-relief nothing else exists in commemoration of the Iroquois fire. The memory of the fire seems to have passed as quickly as the fire itself. Thanks to this book, we have a chance to learn about this horrible day in Chicago's history.
Rating: 
Summary: Chicago Death Trap-The iroquois Theater Fire of 1903
Review: Having lived in Chicago for most of my life, and an avid reader of true historical events that have taken place in the "Windy City" I had never heard of this tragedy and jumped at the chance to read about this horrible event that changed building codes and fire safety throughout the world. But I came away from this book feeling very disappointed with the portrait that the author had given of this event. There were too many instances of "name dropping" of persons who had either died or had been affected by this fire, and I had a difficult time feeling the drama that these people must have felt because of the lack of any type of background on any of the characters, especially the main characters. This true story left me feeling like I wanted more, but the author didn't deliver and it appeared that the numerous names that were used throughout the story, were simply utilized as "fluff".
Rating:
Summary: Chicago Death Trap-The iroquois Theater Fire of 1903
Review: Having lived in Chicago for most of my life, and an avid reader of true historical events that have taken place in the "Windy City" I had never heard of this tragedy and jumped at the chance to read about this horrible event that changed building codes and fire safety throughout the world. But I came away from this book feeling very disappointed with the portrait that the author had given of this event. There were too many instances of "name dropping" of persons who had either died or had been affected by this fire, and I had a difficult time feeling the drama that these people must have felt because of the lack of any type of background on any of the characters, especially the main characters. This true story left me feeling like I wanted more, but the author didn't deliver and it appeared that the numerous names that were used throughout the story, were simply utilized as "fluff".
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding read
Review: I am sure this was a factual account of the tragedy, however not much detail was provided in many areas about the spread of the fire but more of an over view of all things that were occurring during the panic. This book was more of a tragedy that occured and some detail of the background of the politics involved that prevented the theatre from being fully fire safe.
Rating:
Summary: Chicago Death Trap
Review: I have been a loyal fan of Nat Brandt for many years. I am fascinated by his ability to find little-known historical events and bring them to life with style and urgency. I was particularly drawn to this book because I love Chicago and I love the theater. The book unwinds like a novel -- the hope, the horror, the dirty dealing -- the utterly human story. What a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking account of the worst fire in U.S. history
Review: Since I work only about five minutes away from the site of the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, R.I. where 100 people lost their lives in February 2003, I felt compelled to read this book. Relying heavily on newspaper accounts of the disaster, Nat Brandt does a masterful job of recreating the awful events of that frigid December afternoon in 1903 when 602 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives in the Iroquois Theatre fire in downtown Chicago. This was a brand new venue that had been opened for a bit more than a month. The parallels between this fire and what happened recently here in Rhode Island appear to be numerous. Brandt discusses all of the shortcomings at the theatre that resulted in such a heavy death toll. For example, many of the emergency exits were camouflaged in an attempt to improve the appearance of the theater. In addition, most of these exits were locked during the performance and there were no "EXIT" signs posted anywhere. Skylights were installed that would have allowed the fumes and flames to escape above the stage but because the opening of the theater was rushed to take advantage of the holiday season, the skylights were stuck shut. Other deficiencies, too numerous too mention here, also contributed to making this theater a death trap. Brandt also discusses the potential culpabilty of the owners of the building, the architect, the construction company, municipal inspectors and of course, the politicians. Finally, we learn about the ultimate result of years of litigation by family members of the victims. Hint: It is not a happy ending. My conclusion from reading this book is a simple one: "Laxity spells disaster." We never seem to learn, do we? This a well written book that deserves your time and attention.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking account of the worst fire in U.S. history
Review: Since I work only about five minutes away from the site of the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, R.I. where 100 people lost their lives in February 2003, I felt compelled to read this book. Relying heavily on newspaper accounts of the disaster, Nat Brandt does a masterful job of recreating the awful events of that frigid December afternoon in 1903 when 602 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives in the Iroquois Theatre fire in downtown Chicago. This was a brand new venue that had been opened for a bit more than a month. The parallels between this fire and what happened recently here in Rhode Island appear to be numerous. Brandt discusses all of the shortcomings at the theatre that resulted in such a heavy death toll. For example, many of the emergency exits were camouflaged in an attempt to improve the appearance of the theater. In addition, most of these exits were locked during the performance and there were no "EXIT" signs posted anywhere. Skylights were installed that would have allowed the fumes and flames to escape above the stage but because the opening of the theater was rushed to take advantage of the holiday season, the skylights were stuck shut. Other deficiencies, too numerous too mention here, also contributed to making this theater a death trap. Brandt also discusses the potential culpabilty of the owners of the building, the architect, the construction company, municipal inspectors and of course, the politicians. Finally, we learn about the ultimate result of years of litigation by family members of the victims. Hint: It is not a happy ending. My conclusion from reading this book is a simple one: "Laxity spells disaster." We never seem to learn, do we? This a well written book that deserves your time and attention.
Rating:
Summary: Will We Never Learn?
Review: There has been a glut of books in recent years detailing historical diasters. Some have been very good, while others have been exploitative attempts to cash in on this particular publishing trend. Fortunately, author Nat Brandt's "Chicago Death Trap" falls squarely into the former catagory. Both well researched and well written, it tells the story of the deadliest fire in U.S. history. The disaster occurred in a brand new, supposedly "fireproof," theather, echoing the way a certain "unsinkable" ocean liner would go down a decade later. Brandt appropriately tells the story in a straightforward manner. He describes the design and construction of the theather, introduces the major players in the tragedy and then recounts the disaster in an appropriately somber tone. Particularly gruesome is the account of the many who died after being forced to jump from the upper level of the theater, their bodies horribly filling an adjascent alleyway as helpless rescuers looked on. Brandt also describes the aftermath of the fire, which saw an increase safety laws and an attempt to hold some of the theater officials responsible. Typically for the age, they ultimately managed to avoid formal punishment for the negligence that led to the disaster. The book is a fairly quick read at less than 150 pages of text, and there are a number of illustrations and pictures included to help the reader. Overall, a decent historical account of an unfortunately preventable tragedy.
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