Product Description
This is the best book available that describes in detail California's most extensive plant community, the chaparral! The book not only provides the basics of chaparral natural history, but also how wildfires are fought, what we have learned about them, and why it is important to reconnect with one's surroundings. The revised and updated second printing of this book includes details about the October 2007 fires and a new chapter on the importance of understanding the relationship between fire, people, and nature. Also included is an updated color photo identification section with 64 of the most common southern California chaparral plants and animals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A MUST READ for ANYONE living in Southern California
This book is an absolute necessity for anyone living in Southern California, regardless of educational background and training or line of work. This book is vital to our survival in a region that historically burns, and burns on a large scale. It is, at once, an educational primer on local vegetation; a challenge to the long-standing and widespread myths and misconceptions about this vegetation; an overview of local fire behavior and its role in the local ecosystems; an examination of humankind's haphazard and precarious relationship with such fire; and a call to change that role by re-evaluating the way we view the land and ecosystems that are Southern California, and how we choose to live in it.

The first portion of the book defines, describes and discusses chaparral communities, stands of various types of vegetation that thrive throughout California and parts of Mexico. For the non-biologically or non-botanically inclined, DO NOT let this dissuade you. Not only does it help the reader to understand material in the subsequent chapters, but it also helps to open eyes to the remarkable natural beauty and wonder of Southern Californian ecosystems, beauty that thrives around us each and every day, but that most of us know little or nothing about, and thus cannot recognize. Following the crash course in botanical ecology are some wonderful accounts from a wide variety of contributors, including fire ecologists, veteran wildland firefighters, and survivors of some of Southern California's most catastrophic and devastating firestorms. Readers are sure to come away with a newfound appreciation for chaparral and its inherent beauty, as well as a greater understanding of the dangers humanity creates and then places itself in through our gross ignorance of the land and how we affect it.

Author Richard W. Halsey is a biologist/ecologist by passion, teacher by trade, and recently a wildland firefighter as well. He is the director of the California Chaparral Institute ([...]), a non-profit organization dedicated to education and the conservation of California chaparral, and teaches throughout Southern California. His book, "Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California" is recently published in a second edition; released in 2008, it includes discussions on the 2007 Firestorms that swept through San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties, and Baja California in Mexico.

As a 13-year resident of Southern California, a 2-time evacuee of the 2003 and 2007 Firestorms, and a volunteer firefighter, I have been recommending this book to friends, family, and co-workers alike. Educational and eye-opening on a variety of levels, it even challenged some of the schooling I had learned on the job and in academy. For example, chaparral does not "need" to burn periodically to survive - a misconception commonly taught in wildland training. Quite to the contrary, too-frequent burning will destroy the chaparral entirely, leaving the countryside vulnerable to non-native, weedy invasions, and inviting yet more frequent, faster and hotter wildland fires. I recommend this book not only to general residents and property owners, but to wildland firefighters as well. With as much time as we spend studying building construction, compartment fire behavior, structural collapse, and other aspects of structural firefighting, it makes equally as much sense to put the same amount of time and emphasis on studying the nature of the natural habitats we go into to fight wildland fires.

The bottom line: If you live in Southern California, or fight fire there, BUY THIS BOOK AND READ IT.

Read it and be Inspired to Care
This book makes me believe in the power of nature.Richard Halsey has a warm, analytical style that pulls you into the world of the chaparral and its rich ecosystem.He is a master photographer and has insights that will educate individuals and families alike.I loved the stories and new education about the 2007 fires in this second edition.This is a book you will want to share with anyone who loves the outdoors or who has been touched by wildfire.I highly recommend it.

Excellent overview of chaparral and fire
This is a great resource for those living in chaparral areas.As a biologist I find the book particularly fascinating as it includes photos of common plants, chaparral communities (pre/post fire).I highly recommend picking this up to learn more about this interesting plant community and our human relationship to this valuable biological resource.

Great stuff
Finally a book on California wildfires that tells it like it is. Great natural history stuff too. Maybe now the public will wake up. Here's a review from the San Diego Union. It's accurate.

A biologist challenges common wisdom in 'Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California'

Reviewed by Terry Rodgers
February 6, 2005
San Diego Union-Tribune

Biologist and fire ecologist Richard W. Halsey sees ample evidence that Southern Californians simply don't get it.

Surrounded by a highly flammable chaparral landscape, we insist on building housing in inappropriate locations that are impossible to defend against wildfires. When the inevitable happens, we expect firefighters to accomplish the impossible by saving every structure, no matter how stupidly constructed. In the fire's aftermath, there's a clamor for more equipment, more choppers, more air tankers.

The public believes chaparral wildfires whipped up by Santa Ana winds can be easily subdued by a bigger, better-equipped army of firefighters. Using tragedy to push a political agenda, some try to blame the fires' destruction on the chaparral itself and those who favor open space conservation.

In "Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California," Halsey directly challenges the common wisdom that has fostered the pattern of tail-chasing after every wildfire disaster.

This is an interesting and important book that could dispel the public's misperceptions and improve public policy to minimize death and destruction from wildfires. Halsey forces the reader to rethink how mankind should live in Southern California's estimated 8.6 million acres of chaparral. He makes the case that much can be done through better land-use planning, improved building codes and a renewed vigilance on the part of homeowners.

"Past fire suppression practices or environmental regulations limiting vegetation treatments in wild spaces cannot be blamed for the wildfires we see today," he writes. "We must recognize fire will always be part of the California experience, with or without chaparral."

The initial chapters read like a chaparral-habitat field guide, before the book switches abruptly to Halsey's intriguing treatise on wildfire management, including lessons learned from the catastrophic wildfires of 2003.

The early chapters are worthwhile for amateur naturalists or natural history guides seeking a comprehensive understanding of chaparral ecology. Like the Golden State's once-robust population of grizzly bears, native chaparral and its cousin habitat, coastal sage scrub, are being systematically eliminated. For too long, the beauty and utility of the chaparral have been underappreciated. These plant communities are crucial to a healthy watershed that deters erosion and provide habitat for wildlife.

While it's true that periodic fires are healthy for chaparral, humans have increased the frequency of wildfires. Such overburning allows non-native grasses and other plants to take over.

"Considering development, increased fire frequency and the possibility of continued drought conditions, the future (of chaparral) looks extremely difficult," Halsey writes.

Much of the book is a how-to manual for homeowners who wish to create a reasonable defense against wildfire. Halsey argues that, rather than rely on firefighters to come to their rescue, homeowners need to be more savvy about how they prepare for the fires. They can create "survivable spaces" with intelligent (not clear-cut) brush clearing along with on-site measures such as misters under vulnerable wooden eaves.

The author supports his theories with a collection of interviews and anecdotes of residents and firefighters who have first-hand experience battling wildfires.

"What had become clear after the 2003 firestorm is that people had become so unfamiliar with the environment in which they lived and so dependent on outside assistance that they had lost control of their own lives," he writes. "They had neglected to prepare for the inevitable." ... Read more

Product Description
Award-winning journalist David DeKok tells, for the first time, how the Centralia mine fire really started in 1962. He shows how local, state and federal government officials failed to take effective action, allowing the fire to move underneath the small town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. By early 1981, the fire was sending deadly gases into homes, forcing the federal government to install gas alarms. A 12-year-old boy dropped into a steaming hole in the ground wrenched open by the fire's heat on Valentine's Day as the region's congressman toured nearby. DeKok tells how the people of Centralia banded together to demand help from the government, finally winning money to relocate much of the town. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Good Info
Really interesting chronological history of the mine fire.It still leaves some unanswered questions and doesn't hang together completely, more like a compilation of the author's newspaper articles that needed to be more integrated and at times, fleshed out with additional info, but an interesting read.

Informative, accurate, and a captivating read!
I am in the process of reading this book along with the photo-essay.So far it is very personal, to the plight that the people of Centralia have had to deal with in this terrible tragedy.The author has embraced it with a passion, as his wife was roommates with a young lady who actually lived through the "part of God's country that became a living hell."

One Mine Fire, Two Books
I first found out about the underground coal mine fire at Centralia PA and the devastation of the town above it while surfing the Web, looking for information about urban ruins. The photos I saw on various websites were eerie: where a small town once stood there was now only streets and sidewalks. A sliver of a dwelling that had once been part of a string of row houses stood alone, propped up on either side by brick chimney-like buttresses that provided the support that other dwellings, now torn down, once gave. Steam rose from cracks in a twisted and abandoned highway or from patches of scorched earth surrounded by dead vegetation. While these photos were very creepy and intriguing, I didn't stop to read much about the story of Centralia; I was on a quest to find out more about abandoned sites closer to my home in New York State's Hudson Valley region that I have seen for myself and visited: the Lente house, Bannerman's Island Arsenal, and the Cornish Estate.

Years later but a few weeks ago I happened across the last five minutes of a segment on C-SPAN's Book TV that caught my attention. Joan Quigley, author of "The Day the Earth Caved In" was talking about the Centralia mine fire. From the little bit I saw of the show it was clear that there was much more to the Centralia story than what I gathered from the photos on the Web. I eagerly wrote down the name of the book and its author so that the next time I visited Amazon I could order it. After adding the book to my shopping cart, Amazon suggested that I also might want to check out David DeKok's "Unseen Danger", an earlier volume on the same subject. I ordered both.

As chance would have it, "Unseen Danger" arrived about a week before "The Day the Earth Caved In" and now, having read both books, I'm glad it did. I have a busy life and don't have a lot of time to read but I found Mr. DeKok's telling of the story so compelling that I neglected a lot of my duties around the house to make time for it. I took it to work and read it on my lunch and dinner breaks. I stayed up into the early morning hours, far longer than I should have, to finish it in a couple of days instead of the weeks it usually takes me to read a book.

As the blurb quoted on the cover from the New York Times Book Review states, there are "enough bureaucratic villains [in this story] to fill a Dickens novel." I would add that there were some Centralian citizens (especially one infuriatingly obnoxious homeowner in particular who I kept hoping would disappear into a subsidence) and the local Catholic church(who should have also suffered the same fate) who deserved to be included in that category as well. This is a story of missed opportunities, inter-governmental squabbles, denial of the present realities and local feuds all working together to turn the lives of the residents of this beleaguered town into a living hell. Mr. DeKok does a fine job of telling the story and it is obvious that he put a tremendous amount of effort into researching it and a lot of detective work into trying to separate fact from fiction, especially when it comes to the matter of how the mine fire got started in the first place. He paints a clear and terrifying picture of what the residents who were most effected by the danger had to go through before they got some relief, and the unconscionable indifference that government officials showed to the plight of their constituents in order to protect their own political behinds. The cast of characters in "Unseen Danger" is large and varied and includes the above mentioned villains and a few heroes too. The attention to detail is astounding and makes for extremely compelling reading.

However, in my opinion, the book is not without its flaws. While the above mentioned attention to detail is most welcome, at times it can be confusing, especially when trying to picture the relative locations of the events. Three small maps are included in the paperback edition that I read; one showing where Centralia is located in relation to large East Coast cities, a local map indicating local landmarks and some street names along with the locations of the fire's origin and the site of one especially scary event, and a third map that indicates where the fire hot spots were located in 1983. These graphics are only helpful in a minimal way and don't go far enough toward clarification.

Photographs appear at the start of each chapter and there are a few in the bodies of the chapters. In terms of graphic clarity (not subject matter) all leave much to be desired and in many cases they are of such poor quality as to be useless. They have the appearance of being photocopies of photocopies of photocopies and are of such high contrast that the very features that they were intended to illustrate have become invisible. I do not blame Mr. DeKok for this - his publisher should have done a better job. As for the type of photos included, there are many of Centralians effected by the fire, some of the government workers who had to deal with the situation on almost a daily basis, one of the fire itself, and many of the government figures involved. However there is one glaring omission: aside from the cover photo which is obscured by the bold lettering of the book's title there are no pictures of the town, either as it was at the beginning of the story, during, or after. For those, one must go to the various websites dedicated to the subject.

Ms. Quigley's book generally does not suffer from these kind of setbacks. Even before her Prologue we are provided with a nearly full page map which clearly indicates street names, locations of local landmarks, locations of the principal character's homes, indications of the sites and scope of efforts to stop the fires, and a distance scale to help us better grasp the relative proximities of the places and events described. I wish I had this map while I was reading "Unseen Danger", it would have increased my appreciation of that book all the more. "The Day the Earth Caved In" contains eight pages of black and white photographs, all well reproduced, including one of the authors' grandparents row home from 1984, and one taken in 2000 of a tourist observing a cloud of vapor emanating from a non-descript area in the woods, as well as photos of mine workings from the 1880's and pictures of some of the people central to her telling of the story. As with "Unseen Danger" wide angle photos of the town before and after are absent and their inclusion would have helped drive home the immense scope of this catastrophe. Again, one has to search the Internet to find those kind of pictures.

While David DeKok relates the Centralia story by presenting an almost day by day account of the events that occurred he does not get inside the heads of the principals too deeply. He doesn't have to - anyone who has an atom of imagination can empathize or sympathize with the horrors that these people must have been through. But what left me scratching my head in bewilderment after I finished his book was why the Centralians were so reluctant to leave their homes and flee the danger. I suppose this is because I was born and raised in New York City and have moved to new homes five times since I left my parents house - once because the dangers of living in a loft on NY's Lower East Side became too much to bear. It wasn't until a few days ago while discussing the matter with a co-worker who grew up in a small town in upstate New York (population about 2000) that I really began to understand what made Centralians want to cling to their homesteads so tenaciously. Joan Quigley, by telling her version of the story through the eyes, histories and emotions of a few of the key players attempts to explain that sense of attachment, but is only partially successful. Ironically enough, it is DeKok's sparse explanation that comes closest to what my co-worker told me and what I've observed since moving from NYC to a small town: that many people living in small towns are fearful of the outside world and are much more likely to cling to surroundings that are much more familiar and therefore comforting.

Quigley's device of presenting the story by delving into the personal histories and feelings of her selected subjects is a welcome supplement to the mine fire disaster story as told by DeKok but ultimately it falls short in conveying just how desperately dangerous their situation was. At times I got the impression that she feels that the personal relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children or neighbors and neighbors is the interesting part of the story and the mine fire and its dangers were just a backdrop to that soap opera. Major events, like one man's close encounter with death by carbon monoxide poisoning while asleep in his bedroom and the circumstances leading up to it are described in great detail in "Unseen Danger" while Ms. Quigley mentions it almost in passing, preferring to more often dwell on what clothes a person was wearing. (What bearing does who wore what color pants suit on a particular day have on the story at hand? Inexplicably, these kind of observations appear far too frequently.) This is generally indicative of both authors approach to their subjects.

Similarly, Mr. DeKok tends to speak with authority and presumably understanding on technical matters while Ms. Quigley shows some lack of comprehension. For example, at one point she states that oxygen was the fuel that kept the mine fires burning. Just for the record: coal is the fuel that is consumed by the fire while oxygen needs to be present for oxidation - burning - to occur; oxygen in and of itself does not burn. This is elementary Junior High school science. While I realize that the point Ms. Quigley was trying to make was that some scientists proposed that if the mine fire were to be deprived of oxygen then it might go out, it is this misunderstanding of basic physics that influences me to trust Mr. DeKok's opinions over hers.

One rare instance where Ms. Quigley's narrative excels over Mr. DeKok's is in her scathing indictment of the Reagan administration and of the local Catholic church, an institution highly revered and trusted in Centralia, who let their parishioners down as shamefully and grievously as the government had. Mr. DeKok also criticizes these institutions, but instead mostly relies on the method he employs when dealing with other facets of the story, that of letting the facts speak for themselves. Ms. Quigley does this as well, however, she goes one step further on this one point by including examples of government official's blunders not cited in "Unseen Danger", in particular those of the lunatic James Watt (who was Secretary of the Interior near the end of the story) whose public statements were so insane that President Reagan gladly accepted his resignation, and none too soon: after Watt left office he was indicted on charges of influence peddling. None of this information about Watt was in "Unseen Danger" and I strongly feel it should have been.

Both books tell pretty much the same story (though from different perspectives and not equally as well), but one disagreement between the two is about how the fire started in the first place. In my opinion Mr. DeKok presents a far more plausible explanation, citing specific evidence in chapter 3 of his book while Ms. Quigley covers the subject in an author's note at the end of hers. While she states that her research provides strong evidence for her version of the events, she reveals very few specifics of it and appears to rely heavily on the testimony of residents living near the ignition site, claiming that they had no reason to lie. I view this claim with a lot of skepticism. Her own depiction of the character of the Centralia residents (especially some who lived near the dump) leads me to conclude otherwise. Also, Ms. Quigley seems to overlook one gigantic 500 pound gorilla in the room: Why would the town dump be set on fire if it was already burning? It seems painfully obvious to me that they wouldn't. In any case, the cause of the fire is only one part of the story and either scenario would have led to the same result.

If one is interested in reading about this subject my advice is to get both of these books. Read "Unseen Fire" first (it is by far the better of the two because in part it tells the horrific story in much more frightening detail) but keep "The Day The Earth Caved In" handy so you can refer to its superior map. Then read Ms. Quigley's book as a supplement, to flesh out some of the characters involved and to learn a handful of interestingbut not necessarily essential facts that were left out of Mr. DeKok's. Some may find her more personally intimate and emotional method of storytelling preferable to DeKok's somewhat dry, fact based delivery but I for one did not. For as much as I enjoyed "The Day The Earth Caved In" on a certain level I think I did so because I already knew the facts ahead of time. Much to her credit, Ms. Quigley invoked in me even more sympathy for the people she chose to focus on than I had before, (at least those who were deserving of it,) especially one young couple's story of being pulled apart because of wanting different things out of life, which paralleled my own personal experience. However, I feel that this concentration on the private lives of a select few takes too much attention away from exploring and understanding the broader picture of governmental incompetence that any one of us could fall victim to under similar unfortunate circumstances.

Hope that nothing like this ever happens in your town.

Sad Story, Told Well
The title of my review says it all.A good read but one that will get your dander up about how this was handled.

good read
This is a great book!I recomend it to anyone who likes learning new things and to people who enjoy nonfiction. ... Read more

Product Description

On a day that dawned with brisk breezes, a clear sky, and perfect temperatures, the small town of Texas City suddenly found itself facing the greatest industrial disaster in the most industrialized nation on the planet. And, in time, the survivors of that all-American city found themselves wondering if their own government had delivered them into this hell on earth.

In 1947, Texas City was experiencing boom times, bristling with chemical and oil plants, built to fuel Europe's seemingly endless appetite for the raw materials needed to rebuild its ruined cities. When an explosion ripped through its docks, the effect was cataclysmic. Thousands of people were wounded or killed, the fire department was decimated, planes were shot out of the sky, and massive ocean-bound freighters disintegrated. The blast knocked people to their knees in Galveston, ten miles away; broke windows in Houston, forty miles away; and rattled a seismograph in Denver, Colorado. Chaos reigned, the military was scrambled, the FBI launched investigations -- and ordinary citizens turned into heroes.

For months on end, the brave residents of what had once been an average American town struggled to restore their families, their homes, their lives. And they also struggled to confront another welling nightmare-the possibility that the tragedy that almost erased their city from existence might have been caused by the very government they thought would protect them.

City on Fire is a painstakingly researched saga of one of the most profound but forgotten disasters in American history. The Texas City Disaster was a searing, apocalyptic event that had an enormous ripple effect for millions of people around the world.

It changed the way Americans respond to disasters and the way people viewed the American government -- the Texas City Disaster opened the door for average Americans to confront their government and its leaders in the nation's courts of law. It was the first time that the United States of America was named as a defendant in a case that, after a series of dizzying twists and turns, would end up in the nation's highest court.

Ultimately, the story of Texas City is a story of courage, humanity, bravery, and a painful quest for justice. It is the story of ordinary Americans behaving in extraordinary ways -- and serving as role models for dignity and grace.

Customer Reviews (25)

Seller
Well defined description of merchandise and very pleased with seller's quickness in getting product to me. I have read the book before and will be using it in the classroom. It's descriptive, has chapters that leave the reader ready to move on, and an interesting subject matter.

Fact as (poorly written) Fiction
Needs an index, chapter listings, footnotes, and a bibliography.Author claims to have interviewed two hundred people, but does not list their names.If this is non-fiction, he needs to remember Joe Friday's (Jack Webb's) famous quote "Just the facts ma'am."
If a reader is serious about history or the events of the explosion at Texas City, and chooses this volume, I would hope he is good at speed reading, otherwise it may be a long haul.

Harrowing story of the this nations worst industrail accident.
Although not strictly an historical work, Bill Minutaglio nonetheless uses in depth research to reconstruct the Texas City Explosion of the late 1940's.

I do consulting work in the hydrocarbon processing industry and do a lot of work in Texas City, so I was naturally interested in this event.As Minutaglio reconstructs the event one sees that it bears the hallmarks of a major disaster--ignorance, arrogance and extraordinary bad luck all mixed together to create the conditions for horror on a grand scale.

Minutaglio uses the stories of several involved survivors and relatives of some of the prominent deceased to weave this tale.This lends a high level of credence to the reconstruction.There is, however, a fair degree of inference in what is presented.

Beyond the pure human tragedy that Minutaglio chronicles it is the social aspect of the story that really riles.Having in large part created the circumstances that led to this disaster the federal government spends great time and energy in denying the people of Texas City any real comfort, compensation or even recognition of its culpability.When one looks at how the government reacted to 9/11 and compare that to the reaction to the Texas City disaster you can't help but feel anew for the victims.

I found this to be a well written, well researched, lovingly tendered story.It's not a book that one can enjoy, but is a book that should be read.As has often been noted, we do not truly appreciate the power of our modern tools till something goes wrong.This book reveals just how truly awful "when things go wrong" can be.

Highly recommended.

Texas City Remembers
This book appealed to me because I was born there 7 years after the Disaster and grew up there where it was part of local lore that I learned from my parents who lived through it.I enjoyed the book for its human interest aspects derived from the author's interviews with survivors.The way he describes life in Texas City coincides with my memories of it from my childhood.I attended the church where Fr. Roach served and the author seemed to use his artistic license from interviewing those who knew him to portray Roach's thoughts and words.

My previous reading on this topic was of dry historical narratives of events of those days in 1947.The inside look at the role of the federal government and the ensuing litigation and resolution of survivors' claims was new to me and fascinating to read.As one who grew up in the shadows of the port and local corporations involved, I heartily recommend this book to interested readers!

No, it's not non-fiction...
Don't lose sight of the fact that this book is NOT an absolute documentary piece of work -- the writer says as much in his introduction.

It is instead an extremely well-told, compelling story pieced together from documentary evidence, witness accounts and interviews that well chronicles this tragedy and puts the reader right in the middle of the event.

I couldn't put it down. ... Read more

Product Description
Forest fires, terrorism, war: explorations of danger by the author of The Perfect Storm.

For readers and viewers of The Perfect Storm, opening this long-awaited new work by Sebastian Junger will be like stepping off the deck of the Andrea Gail and into the inferno of a fire burning out of control in the steep canyons of Idaho. Here is the same meticulous prose brought to bear on the inner workings of a terrifying elemental force; here is a cast of characters risking everything in an effort to bring that force under control.

Few writers have been to so many desperate corners of the globe as has Sebastian Junger; fewer still have provided such starkly memorable evocations of characters and events. From the murderous mechanics of the diamond trade in Sierra Leone to the logic of guerrilla warfare in Afghanistan and the forensics of genocide in Kosovo, this new collection of Junger's nonfiction will take you places you wouldn't dream of going to on your own.Amazon.com Review
The events explored in Fire focus on "people confronting situations that could easily destroy them," and as he demonstrated in The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger is skilled at breaking such situations down to their core elements. In this exciting book, he reports on raging forest fires in the Western U.S, war zones in Kosovo and Afghanistan, the deadly diamond trade in Sierra Leone, the plight of travelers kidnapped by guerrillas in Kashmir, the last living whale harpooner on the Caribbean island of Bequia, and the Greek-Turkish conflict on Cyprus. There is also a fascinating chapter on John Colter (explorer, fur trader, and member of the Corps of Discovery led by Lewis and Clark) in which he comments on the need for some to seek adventure as a means of escape from our relatively safe modern world: "Life in modern society is designed to eliminate as many unforeseen events as possible, and as inviting as that seems, it leaves us hopelessly underutilized.... Threats to our safety and comfort have been so completely wiped out that we have to go out of our way to create them." Junger has a keen grasp on this mentality (in fact, he exhibits it himself), and in Fire he clearly explains the fears and difficulties involved in reporting on dangerous events from foreign countries: "You have two weeks to understand a completely alien culture, find a story that no one has heard of, and run it into the ground. It never feels even remotely possible. But it is." And he has done it well in this thrilling book. --Shawn Carkonen ... Read more

Customer Reviews (49)

A Danger Buffet
First, a word of caution. Those looking for the firejumper equivalent of "The Perfect Storm" should search elsewhere. This is a compilation of short varied essays by Junger on a number of dangerous professions/environments. Reveiwers on Amazon continue to amaze me with their inability to discern just what they're buying before they buy it and slagging decent works with 1-star reviews because they can't be bothered to read. That said, I aim to review the work as-is, not as-I-wish-it-would-have-been.

This is definitely a mixed bag. The essays on firejumpers are sometimes redundant, made moreso by being grouped together in the collection, but they are presented as originally published, which meant that each essay had to be self-contained and informative on its own. So, while I understand WHY, it still becomes tiresome the third time you read about the allure of brushfires.

I was actually more intrigued by the tales of time and place, such as the illicit diamond trade in Sierra Leone and the war in Afghanistan. The material on Ahmad Shah Massoud, published mere months before Massoud's assassination on 9/9/01 and the subsequent events of 9/11, makes this a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in that conflict and its role in what followed.

Good Adventure Stories
This book is a collection of Junger's articles. As such, it feels a little disjointed. The topics of the articles range from smoke jumpers who fight wildfires in the western U.S. to the diamond trade in Sierra Leone to the wars in Kosovo and Afghanistan. But if the topics seem unrelated, the book holds together in its sense of urgency and suspense, and the theme of a chaotic world in which the forces of nature and humanity constantly threaten to overwhelm the protagonists. Junger's style is sparse and to the point, but he paints vivid pictures and his page-turning narrative style makes it hard to put this book down.

Excellent writing, a poignant book
I bought and read "Fire" a few years back when it was first published, and I have to say that every piece in this book was worthwhile. From the introduction -- by all means read the introduction and his experiences as a tree cutter -- to the final piece about Afghanistan, there is so much that is poignant.Junger is a terrific writer, the real deal.

A taste of excitement...just a taste
I bought this book knowing that it was about more than just fire fighting.My main purpose for buying it was actually the story about Ahmad Shah Massoud because there hasn't been a lot written about him.After I read the book I became interested in things I do not usually read about (usually I read about military history and foreign affairs).The story about smoke jumpers really increased my interest in that topic as well as the one about whaling.

Although Junger's stories in this book are short and not related, he writes with a style that keeps you interested.I actually kinda like this style because it gives you a short exciting piece that you can finish on your lunch break.If you want more in depth info on the topic you can find a book that centers on that topic.This book is cool because it exposes the reader to many different exciting stories without bogging you down with a long prose.The book is fun....not really intended for a reference....just for entertaining, well written "mini-reads".

What is this book about?
When I bought the book, I assumed it was about dangerous jobs and why people are attracted to them.Instead it was a collection of magazine articles by Junger on various topics....there was no coherent theme.It seems like Junger and his publishers saw an opportunity to capitalize on his Perfect Storm fame with this book.And congratulations....if you can recycle your material to make more money, well, good on ya.

My objection, though, is that the articles are really vignettes that capture a certain time and place and so lack context.It's like Junger parachuted in got his story and then left.That may work for a magazine article but not for a book.It feels voyeuristic instead of enlightening.Since some of these stories date back ten years before the book's publication and miss subsequent events they feel dated and lack power. The story about the Northern Alliance commander in Afghanistan doesn't mention his murder right before 9/11 and how this was not considered a coincidence.

Having said this, the book is an entertaining read because Junger has a way of putting you right into the action.His prose has an immediacy and momentum that is truly compelling.It's just hard to see the point. ... Read more

Product Description
History including all the horrible bits, fascinating details plus essential facts. Humorous cartoon-style illustrations. Fun and informative. Age 8-11. ... Read more

Product Description
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the Haymarket bombing of 1886, and the making and unmaking of the model town of Pullman--these remarkable events in what many considered the quintessential American city forced people across the country to confront the disorder that seemed inevitably to accompany urban growth and social change.In this book, Carl Smith explores the imaginative dimensions of these events as he traces the evolution of beliefs that increasingly linked city, disorder, and social reality in the minds of Americans.

Unique and revealing, this book will fascinate anyone interested in Chicago, social disorder and disaster, and the development of American urban consciousness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

actually related in the book's manner ?
Smith has made perhaps a unique association between the events chronicled in his book. The 1871 Chicago Fire. The 1886 Haymarket bombing. And the making of Pullman town. His descriptions of each are well done and quite readable. For this alone, it can worthwhile to peruse his writings, as he explains the circumstances of each. Of the events, perhaps the Chicago Fire is the best remembered. While the other 2 are relegated to the scrutiny of professional historians.

I am unsure that despite his eloquent arguments, the events can be tied together as he so disposes. The presumed urban outlook shared by Americans of a century ago was shaped by many things. Maybe the events in the book were influential, but not decisive. ... Read more

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Years of drought and decades of aggressive fire exclusion have left North American forests at high risk for future catastrophic fires. Forest settings are a magnet for recreational opportunities and for rapidly growing residential development—putting an increasing number of citizens and their property into the path of wildfires. Recordsetting wildfires initiated the twentyfirst century and motivated the rise to prominence of wildfire on the political agenda, prompting important and farreaching new public policy initiatives. To be effective, these policies must be informed by science—but that requires more than just improved knowledge about the physical and biological dynamics of fire and forest ecosystems. Social values, socioeconomic factors, demographic trends, institutional arrangements, and human behavior must also be taken into consideration by the agencies and individuals responsible for wildland fire decision making. The first book to integrate the social science literature on the human dimensions of wildfire, People, Fire, and Forests reviews current studies from this broad, interdisciplinary field and synthesizes them into a rich body of knowledge with practical management implications. Chapters in the book highlight principal findings and common threads in the existing research and identify strengths and gaps. They cover such topics as public perception of wildfire risk, acceptability of fire management policies, and community impacts of wildfire. Designed to make relevant social science information more available and useful to wildfire risk managers and policy makers, People, Fire, and Forests is also intended to encourage and guide further research into wildfire. By exploring the theoretical and methodological issues surrounding human interactions with wildfire and describing the practical implications of this research, this volume provides an essential resource for students, scholars, and professionals. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

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A dramatic account of the capping of burning oil wells in Kuwait presents a powerful vision of the irreversible damage that has been inflicted upon the planet by modern warfare. 25,000 first printing. ... Read more

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The authors of this important little book, Dr. Sharon Hanks and her sister, Jennifer Snyder, have compiled and arranged a sensible and comprehensive list of all-important information anyone might need in the event of an accident, crisis or natural disaster. They've anticipated all the vital data you, your family members, friends and professionals will require to implement a quick and efficient response to any disruption, large or small. The authors suggest that The Plan Ahead Handbook be placed in a three-ring binder along with copies of all supporting documents and other pertinent information. This way, your Plan Ahead Handbook can expand and change over time. Be sure to provide up-to-date copies of your Handbook to all adult members of your family so that the information may be quickly and easily retrieved when necessary. ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Sharon Hanks: Sharon Hanks retired as an emeritus full professor of the Biology Department of William Paterson University of New Jersey in 2004 after teaching for 29 years. After retirement, she began a second profession and is currently an instructor of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, teaching at various venues in the community and at a martial arts school in Nyack, New York. Helping others, through teaching, has always has been one of Sharon's life goals. While assisting her sister, via long-distance communications, in the planning and caring for their elderly mother, the need for a specific resource book was brought into focus. This book is the result of their joint efforts. She hopes that this book will help others as it has helped her and her family. .Sharon lives in Montvale, New Jersey with husband and five adopted stray cats.Jennifer Snyder: Never knowing where life was going to lead her, Jennifer has taken many different paths. While raising her daughter, she owned a small candy business. Later, she shifted from candy to banking, where she was a vault teller for 9 years. Her last working path was in Southern California where she served as a school coordinator for a nonprofit company that exposed children to sea and astrocamp experiences. However, the most gratifying, yet heart-breaking event, in the winding road of her life, was the path that involving caring for her aging mother. With so many details to consider and so many emotions to balance in her care-giving, she found that having a "plan of attack" helped smooth the way for this rewarding but stressful and final journey. The guidance, love, and support of family and friends were essential in helping her making the plan work. Jennifer hopes that this book will provide a helping hand for others to deal with their own life journeys. However, this book is not just for dealing with the elderly, but to smooth the way for any life crisis that readers may encounter.Jennifer lives in Upland, California with her husband. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Useful and Clear
The Plan Ahead Handbook: Be Prepared In Case of Health, Fire or Natural Disaster/Evacuation Emergency

What a wonderfully useful and clear little handbook.My mother, who's 91, visited this weekend, and I used this handbook to sit down with her and gather a lot of the vital information that I never was able to learn before.Having a clearly structured and succinct handbookprovided the tool I needed to help both her and myself approach these sensitive issues of how I could best help her as she got older.I'm very grateful to these authors for providing so useful, inexpensive, and concise a text.Thank you. ... Read more

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Explains why forest fires occur and describes the techniques used to fight them. Also informs on the damage forest fires inflict, their role in the the natural cycle of a forest, and highlights some famous forest fires. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

high interest and low level book
This is a great high-interest and low-level reading book and series. The books are small with large print and about 50 pages long with lots of pictures. They aren't exhaustive for the topics covered, but they give a great deal of information by being concise when you consider the book's size. Special features are Did you know... fact insets, a map, glossary, list of other resources, and an index. After an attention-getting introduction, the chapters start off with a story about a particular incident and then go into the content of the chapter. Difficult words are also explained in parentheses besides being in the glossary. In this book, the three chapters cover how fires are started and how they spread, the different types of fires, and how fires are fought as well as prevention techniques. The last chapter also has an interesting page describing how wildfires are a part of earth's delicate balance and are necessary. Elementary and middle school students will benefit from these books. Even high school students might find them a nice change of pace from the thick books they normally use for research. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Security Management, published by American Society for Industrial Security on June 1, 1989. The length of the article is 2085 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Putting out the fire. (disaster contingency plan for high-rise fire at First Interstate Bank of California, Los Angeles)
Author: Cole H. Emerson
Publication: Security Management (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 1989
Publisher: American Society for Industrial Security
Volume: v33Issue: n6Page: p64(5)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Security Management, published by American Society for Industrial Security on March 1, 1990. The length of the article is 788 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Are we a hair's breadth from disaster? (fire cable jacket thicknesses) (column)
Author: Gary A. Ward
Publication: Security Management (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 1990
Publisher: American Society for Industrial Security
Volume: v34Issue: n3Page: p110(2)

Article Type: column

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on May 1, 2002. The length of the article is 456 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Community rallies around fire victims.(Fires)(Disaster: The public can contribute funds to a family burned out of their McKenzie Bridge home.)
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: May 1, 2002
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: D1

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more