One of the worst natural disasters in American history, the 1896 New York heat wave killed almost 1,500 people in ten oppressively hot days. The heat coincided with a pitched presidential contest between William McKinley and the upstart Democrat William Jennings Bryan, who arrived in New York City at the height of the catastrophe.
INTRODUCTION: FIGHTING FOR AIR
Chapter 4. INFERNO OF BRICK AND STONE
Chapter 5. BRYAN FELL WITH A BANG
Chapter 6. STRANGE AND PATHETIC SCENES
EPILOGUE: HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN
Profiles of Some of the August 11 Heat Victims