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    Sinking the Sultana: A Civil War Story of Imprisonment, Greed, and a Doomed Journey Home
    Unavailable
    Sinking the Sultana: A Civil War Story of Imprisonment, Greed, and a Doomed Journey Home
    Unavailable
    Sinking the Sultana: A Civil War Story of Imprisonment, Greed, and a Doomed Journey Home
    Audiobook4 hours

    Sinking the Sultana: A Civil War Story of Imprisonment, Greed, and a Doomed Journey Home

    Written by Sally M. Walker

    Narrated by Janet Metzger

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The worst maritime disaster in American history wasn't the Titanic. It was the steamboat Sultana on the Mississippi River—and it was completely preventable.

    In 1865, the Civil War was winding down and the country was reeling from Lincoln's assassination. Thousands of Union soldiers, released from Confederate prisoner-of-war camps, were to be transported home on the steamboat Sultana. With a profit to be made, the captain rushed repairs to the ship so the soldiers wouldn't find transportation elsewhere. More than 2,000 passengers boarded in Vicksburg, Mississippi...on a boat with a capacity of 376. The journey was violently interrupted when the ship's boilers exploded, plunging the Sultana into mayhem; passengers were bombarded with red-hot iron fragments, burned by scalding steam, and flung overboard into the churning Mississippi. Although rescue efforts were launched, the survival rate was dismal—more than 1,500 lives were lost. In a compelling, exhaustively researched account, renowned author Sally M. Walker joins the ranks of historians who have been asking the same question for 150 years: who (or what) was responsible for the Sultana's disastrous fate?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 10, 2017
    ISBN9781536685510
    Unavailable
    Sinking the Sultana: A Civil War Story of Imprisonment, Greed, and a Doomed Journey Home
    Author

    Sally M. Walker

    Sally M. Walker is the author of Champion, a JLG selection, one of NCTE's 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Books, and a 2019 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book. She is also the author of ALA Notable Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917; the acclaimed picture book Winnie; and Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, which was awarded a Sibert Medal. She lives in Illinois.

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    Reviews for Sinking the Sultana

    4/5

    20 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Sally Walker brings the story of the Sultana to a young adult audience, and does so in a effective manner to both those who have never heard of the disaster as well as to those familiar with the tragic episode of the Civil War. Sinking the Sultana is very well researched, perhaps more so than most young adult non-fiction, and the author engagingly tells the story not just of the sinking of the ship and the death of thousands of former POWs aboard, but follows many of the men through the journey that caused them to be aboard the Sultana. Much historical literature geared to this age range is either very dry or borders on being fiction to keep the reader's interest; Walker's book is neither - by using the personal accounts of the survivors and other participants, the Sultana disaster is seen through the eyes of those who lived it. This is an excellent read for students interested in the Civil War.
    • 4/5
      A well-researched historical account of the sinking of the Sultana in April 1865. This narrative not only includes the tragic event itself but also the before and after. Individual stories help give this telling a more personal touch. An interesting and informative work on a subject that was overlapped by the Lincoln assassination. Pictures and illustrations are incorporated too. There's a good bibliography at the end for those readers who wish to continue exploring the event. LT Early Reviewer
    • 3/5
      This is the story of one of the worst maritime disasters in American history. At the end of the Civil War a Mississippi River steamboat, the Sultana, was loaded to excess with freed Union prisoners headed north to freedom. Due to an explosion on board, most of the passengers and crew perished. This is the story of some of the survivors and victims, the Sultana and the disaster and its aftermath. The book starts with stories of some of the prisoners, the terrible conditions in Confederate prisons and goes into how the disaster happened. This was all new information to me and I'm somewhat of a history fan, so it was interesting to read. From the title I expected a bit more thorough write-up, this book is written at a YA level, but was still educational and interesting, it made me want to keep reading. The version I read was an Early Reviewer's advance copy.
    • 3/5
      Sinking the Sultana, by Sally M. Walker, was provided to me as an advanced reading copy, from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. It was not quite what I expected, and seems to be written for a young adult audience, or casual reader. The general, contextual information should be very well known and seems to almost be filler. The large font, exaggerated line spacing, expanded table of contents, glossary, and numerous graphics all serve to lengthen what is really an abbreviated effort, which could almost be edited and presented as a magazine article.I have also read Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, by Gene Eric Salecker. Although much of Ms. Walkers information and presentation seems to be derived from Salecker's work, her text, Sinking the Sultana, seems to pale in comparison.I suppose that it serves as a quick (abbreviated) study, suitable for light reading or young adults. Perhaps it can inspire greater interest and future research on the part of some readers.
    • 4/5
      I don't know a whole lot of Civil War history, and I had never heard of the Sultana until I read this book. I think it's an excellent book of history, very well-written but simple enough for young people to understand. I particularly liked the author's use of primary sources such as diaries, letters, etc., from the people who were on the ship. She painted an excellent picture of the chaos and horror that occurred after the boilers exploded and the ship sank. This book would be good for a middle- or high-school class on the Civil War, and I think adults would also appreciate the story.
    • 4/5
      A short, easy-to-read telling of the sinking of the Sultana. On April 24, 1865, the steamboat Sultana left Vicksburg MS towards Ohio and other points north, with about 100 paying passengers and over 2,000 paroled prisoners from Civil War military prisons in the south. Three days later, just outside of Memphis, a boiler exploded. More than 1,500 people on board either burned or drowned in the disaster, more than perished on the Titanic. Sally Walker tells the story succinctly, introducing some of the victims and survivors, and giving a follow up to most of the people we meet. I have read other Sultana books that were longer and more detailed, but Walker gives us the facts in a shorter, but just as interesting format.
    • 4/5
      I received this book through Librarything.com Early Review giveaway. I received this book in order to give an honest review. This is a ARC copy of Sinking the Sultana by Sally M. Walker. I really enjoyed this book. I didn't know about this happening. I have always been interested about the Civil War. I found this book to be a learning and enjoyable read. It has pictures of some of the soldiers, also of the steamboat, and it has maps in it as well. Thank you to Librarything and Candlewick press for giving me the chance to read and review this amazing book.
    • 4/5
      I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.This little known catastrophe was a tragic end to the war. In their rush to get Union prisoners home after the war, they packed the first boat far past its capacity. That alone might not have caused this disaster, but when the worst happened and the boilers exploded, hundreds more died because there was no way to safely evacuate them all.I’m so glad I had the chance to read this book. I’ve read many books on the Civil War, but I didn’t know anything about this disaster. The author does a great job of putting this accident in its proper perspective. What made it so heartbreaking is that the entire thing could have been avoided.This book is packed with photos, maps, and facts that make the story come alive. The writing is clear and easy to follow. I would definitely recommend this one for kids or adults who like reading about disasters or the Civil War.
    • 4/5
      At the close of the Civil War, hundreds of Union soldiers who had been recently released from Confederate prisons lost their lives in a tragic steamboat explosion on the Mississippi River. Despite the number of casualties, the sinking of the Sultana was overshadowed in national news because it followed so closely after Lincoln's assassination. Author Walker provides a thorough overview of the Sultana disaster, as well as background on some of the key individuals who were among the casualties or whose actions (or failures to act) contributed to the accident. The book is heavily illustrated with photographs, facsimiles of newspaper articles and important documents, and maps. (However, the maps and a few other illustrations were not included in the advance reading copy I received.) A glossary provides definitions of terms that will be unfamiliar to many 21st century readers such as “farrier,” “jack staff,” and “sutler.” The bibliography includes primary sources contemporary to the disaster as well as recently published analyses of this tragic event. While Walker writes for a middle or high school audience, the wealth of illustrations will appeal to visually oriented readers of all ages.This review is based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.