A PARADISE BUILT IN HELL

How do we respond to disaster? What expressions of care and solidarity might we find among the debris? A Paradise Built in Hell is a study of five major disasters - the 1906 San Francisco earthquake the Halifax explosion of 1917 the Mexico City earthquake of 1985 the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina - and the expressions of altruism generosity and resourcefulness that emerged in the wake of these tragedies. The result is a sweeping history of some of the foundational events in the modern history of North America and a meditation on community: challenging us to look afresh at society and what these models of local collaborative politics might look like carried through into everyday life.