 | | | | The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire |  | Authors: Sam Heys, Allen B. Goodwin
Publisher: Longstreet Pr
Category: Book
Buy New: $19.95
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $19.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  (14 reviews)
Sales Rank: 642390
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 234
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 1563520699
Dewey Decimal Number: 975.8231
EAN: 9781563520693
ASIN: 1563520699
Publication Date: April 1993
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great Account, but perhaps a little fiction too. September 26, 2000
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Ironically, I finished reading this book on December 7, 1996. I realized the next day that this was the fiftieth anniversary of the great fire. Heys and Goodwin have done a fine job of telling us the story of America's worst hotel fire. But I do think they went too far in trying to convince everyone that the fire was an arson. They believe that an Atlanta criminal ignited the blaze that night. Their theory is plausable and they argue their case well, but one must remember that fire can arise from many sources. I am always suspicious of claims that a fire 'had to have been set'. But this is a minor weakness in a great work on one of America's prominent but unknown disasters.
 Great Read On Tragic Story December 30, 1999
27 out of 28 found this review helpful
"The Winecoff Fire" is the true story of America's worst hotel fire. Working in downtown Atlanta, I often pass by the still-intact but abandoned hotel on Peachtree Street. I knew a few facts about the tragedy: that a Tech student won the Pulitzer Prize for his picture of a jumping lady; that many of Georgia's top high schools students were victims; and that many of the 119 dead were Georgians. I was curious to know more and, fortunately, this book came out. It includes the many aspects involved: cause, characters, individual experiences, scientific, political, historical, courage, benefit of info released years later, etc. Yet the book never bogs down. Yes, there are some vivid descriptions, but I didn't find them gratuitous at all. In fact, those tough parts brought home to me the real human horror of this tragedy. (Like what "Saving Private Ryan" did with war.) Even with the objective narrative, I get a sense of the authors being appalled and astonished at what happened. Sympathy, compassion, an understanding of sheer heartbreak, poignancy, and a quiet-but-obvious disgust with bad characters all kept emanating as I read. Those qualities made this book a lot more than just the "fact book" that I had originally bought it for. It was interesting that several friends read the book and they were surprised to learn of some family/friend connections with people involved in the fire. Years ago, Ralph McGill (the Atlanta journalist called the "conscience of the South") had encouraged someone to write about this story, but the effort was derailed. Fortunately, Mr. Heys and Mr. Goodwin put this together.
A very young review on The WineCoff Fire December 7, 1999
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I'm a college student and I was working and I ran across this book. My father is a fireman and I have always been interested in the stories that he tells but he has never mentioned this tragic story. So I read the book and was completely shocked. I couldn't believe that something that aweful had happened and I had never heard about it. I think that it was well written and that the victums of that deadly fire have some justice now because it tells what they were going through. It gives young people like myself the chance to look back at history and see what went wrong. I was deeply moved by this book and I would recommend it to anyone.
The truth is told October 19, 1999
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Thank you to the authors that have given an actual account of the Winecoff Hotel fire. I was not born at the time but it seemed like I was there with each victim. We have recently met a gentleman who survived and his roommate that night died. The similarity is chilling. This book is what you would really call a Historical event.
A moving account of human courage in the midst of tragedy! September 30, 1999
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Not since the night of the fire itself have the victims of The Winecoff Hotel been given the respect which they have deserved. The writings of Mr. Heys and Mr. Goodwin allow readers to experience first-hand the tragedy which unfolded the night of Dec. 7th, 1946, and in doing so they plant seeds of emotion. The subject is heart-wrenching, yet you cannot put this book down. It is a "page-turner" that seeps into the deep recesses of one's mind and forces you to read with an urgency only quelled by its completion. It is easy to feel connected with those whose lives were touched forever in a period of 2 brief hours. The courage of the victims and survivors is amazing and hauntingly beautiful. The bravery of those assisting, unequaled. The political white-washing at the time of the fire, as exposed in the book, is a disgrace and produces a bright red spot upon the pristine records of deceased city leaders held in high esteem today. The Winecoff Hotel Fire is excellently explored within the pages of this book. New generations of people will now pass this building along Atlanta's famous Peachtree Street, and will once again gaze up at it and speak the perpetually spoken phrase, "There's The Winecoff..." The rest remains unspoken. They too, now know and recognize the powerful events that took place there so long ago.
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