Fire on the Horizon Large Print

On April 20, 2010, the half-billion-dollar floating oil rig Deepwater Horizon became a household name when it blew up, killing 11 people, shattering a multinational company’s reputation, and leaving an unprecedented swath of devastation in its wake. Told by veteran oil rig captain John Konrad and award-winning Washington Post journalist Tom Shroder, Fire on the Horizon is the remarkable story of this tragedy—the worst environmental disaster in the history of the Unites States—a riveting chronicle of engineering hubris at odds with the Earth itself, of corporate greed and unforgettable selflessness.

An extraordinary true-life adventure tale reminiscent of The Perfect Storm, Fire on the Horizon captures life aboard the rig, vividly detailing in “real time” the events that preceded its demise. The authors identify the factors behind the accident, including the culture clashes—between Southern roughnecks, college-educated Yankee engineers, and faceless corporate bureaucrats—and expose what the inspectors overlooked.

Gripping and harrowing, Fire on the Horizon is both a page-turning account of that day and a narrative of the lives involved before, during, and after the explosion. It is also a warts-and-all portrait of deepwater drilling replete with  the swashbuckling history, astonishing technology and disturbing vulnerability of this vital but little understood corner of our lives.