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Description
“Look at all those people down there, I can't disappoint them. It's showtime!” he said before leaping dramatically to his death, much to the delight of a cheering crowd estimated at up to 100,000.
11 Hours on the Ledge is the stunning story of John William Warde, a privileged, wealthy, educated young man who inexplicably stepped out onto the 17th-floor ledge of the Hotel Gotham in midtown Manhattan in 1938 and subsequently captivated the entire nation for 11 thrilling hours.
Presented in chapters that count down each of the eleven hours of the unfolding drama, the suspense builds exponentially as Warde is trying to literally be talked “off the edge” by pastors, priests, psychiatrists, reporters, evangelists, hookers, beat cops, the mayor of New York, the New York Police Commissioner, family members, and a few random hucksters, and interlopers.
When all these efforts fail, the NYPD attempts a series of comic “rescues” in vain, but to the absolute delight and cheers of the growing crowd below. Beginning innocently on a sweltering summer day, the drama builds in intensity with every passing hour until it reaches a peak of hysteria at the eleventh hour.
Meticulously researched from thousands of newspaper accounts and magazine articles of the era, Jamison pieces together John Warde's story, connecting this early 20th century event to contemporary issues such as mental illness, homosexuality, mob mentalities, media ethics, religion, and class wars.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- EPUB 3.0
- Conforms with the requirements of EPUB Accessibility Spec v1.1
- WCAG level AA
- WCAG v2.2 compliant
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
Support for non-visual reading
- No accessibility features offered by the reading system, device or reading software are disabled or otherwise unusable with the product
- Has alternative text descriptions for images
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Appearance of the text and page layout can be modified according to the capabilities of the reading system (font family and size, spaces, as well as color of background and text)
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
- All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
- Content is enhanced with ARIA roles to optimize organization and facilitate navigation
- Purposes of all links are made clear
Rich content
Language tagging provided
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Early Hours
Chapter 2: Zero Hour
Chapter 3: Hour One
Chapter 4: Hour Two
Chapter 5: Hour Three
Chapter 6: Hour Four
Chapter 7: Hour Five
Chapter 8: Hour Six
Chapter 9: Hour Seven
Chapter 10: Hour Eight
Chapter 11: Hour Nine
Chapter 12: Hour Ten
Chapter 13: Hour Eleven
Chapter 14: After Hours
Chapter 15: The Aftermath
Chapter 16: Fourteen Hours
About the Author
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | Aug 06 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 216 |
| ISBN | 9798216371847 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 15 bw photos |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |

























