"On July 6, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut, the big top of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey caught fire during the middle of the afternoon performance. Seven thousand people were inside. The canvas of the big tent had been waterproofed with a mixture of paraffin and gasoline: in seconds, the big top was burning out of control. Bleacher seats were fronted by steel railings with narrow openings
the main exit near the fire was blocked by a caged chute in which leopards and lions, having just performed, raged, maddened by the fire." "In re-creating the horrific events of one of America's most cataclysmic civic tragedies, Stewart O'Nan has fashioned both an incomparably gripping narrative and a profound, measured glimpse into the extremes of human behavior under duress. In the madness of the inferno, some - like animal trainer May Kovar and the tragic Bill Curlee (who tossed dozens of children to safety over the lions' chute) - would act with superhuman bravery. Others - like the sailor who broke a woman's jaw to get past her - would become beasts. The roll of the fire, and its circumstances, haunt Hartford to the present day - the identity of one young victim, known only as Little Miss 1565, remains an enduring mystery and a source of conflict in the city."--BOOK JACKET.