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The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America
The Big Burn Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America
Author: Timothy Egan
In THE WORST HARD TIME, Timothy Egan put the environmental disaster of the Dust Bowl at the center of a rich history, told through characters he brought to indelible life. Now he performs the same alchemy with the Big Burn, the largest-ever forest fire in America and the tragedy that cemented Teddy Roosevelt's legacy in the land. On the afternoo...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780618968411
ISBN-10: 0618968415
Publication Date: 10/19/2009
Pages: 336
Rating:
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 15

4.1 stars, based on 15 ratings
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

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bup avatar reviewed The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America on + 166 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I can only imagine that higher-ups added the subtitle to this book, because of the rule that all nonfiction books must have subtitles, but Teddy Roosevelt is the star of this book in the same way that Jack Nicholson is the star of Little Shop of Horrors. And the thesis that the subtitle promises is only investigated as one of a few theses of the last fifty pages, where the author looks at the fire's consequences. "Fire that Saved America's *Forests*" might be more accurate, and better anyway, because it's all the more paradoxical.

So. I really enjoyed the book. He captures the confusion and hugeness of the living fire itself, the petulant whims of who it killed and passed by, and the designed unequipedness of the very young forest service to fight it. It has heroes, villains, and a great plot. It makes me seriously consider a trip to Montana and Idaho just to see the Coeur d'Alene forest and the enormity of what happened there, and the fossils and ghosts that remain.
reviewed The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America on
Helpful Score: 1
This book was highly informative, but took a long time to really start. There is a lot of information leading up to the major event, The Big Burn, which takes a while to get through. It really starts to pick up in the last hundred and fifty pages. That said this book is great to start and pick up when you have the time to get through it.
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reviewed The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America on + 372 more book reviews
A good history of the beginning of the National Forest Service and the idea of conservation, Teddy R, Muir, Pincohot. And the story of the Big Burn of the early 1900's


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