"This is the story of how seven urban fires - dramatic and terrible conflagrations in themselves - have together shaped the larger course of American history." "The Boston fire of 1760 set the stage for the American Revolution. The Pittsburgh fire of 1845 proved how adaptable historical memory could be. From the ashes of the Chicago fire of 1871 emerged the modern skyscraper - transforming urban living and land values - and sparking the class strife of the Haymarket Riots and the Pullman strike. The Baltimore fire of 1904 showed how an utterly destroyed downtown could reinvent itself after a catastrophe - but at the expense of the lower income inhabitants who would be displaced by the renewal. The Detroit fire of 1967 forced politicians to concede what the people of Detroit already knew: that racism and racially-based deprivation were not changed by the civil rights movement. The Oakland Hills fire demolished a landscape of private privilege and showed the perils of ex-urban communities, no matter how affluent. Apart from their domestic and global implications, the fires of 9/11 have prodded a sometime complacent nation to admit that twenty-first-century emergency services and the urban lifestyles they protect have to be thoroughly rethought."--BOOK JACKET. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

The "best-known conflagration in our nation's history," the 1871 Chicago fire was ignited not by a cow kicking over a lantern but by two laborers having a careless smoke in a barn. The fiasco enriched the moguls who redeveloped the city and disenfranchised the poor, sowing the seeds for a class conflict that would culminate in the 1886 Haymarket riot and the 1894 Pullman strike. According to historian Hoffer (Past Imperfect), the Chicago fire and six others are "critical moments in our urban development." The 1760 Boston fire helped spark the American Revolution, and firefighters became Sons of Liberty led by such fire wardens as Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The wreckage of Baltimore's 1904 blaze catalyzed the growth of the Inner Harbor, and Pittsburgh romanticized its 1845 fire to attract new investment capital, while the 1967 Detroit arson fires led to white flight and a blighted inner city. Hoffer fears that the present debate over the replacement for the World Trade Center sidesteps fire safety, and that new Oakland residents, after a 1991 firestorm, are complacently building multistory mansions surrounded by trees. Although cogent and thoughtful, this specialized study will appeal mainly to fire buffs and urban planners. B&w photos, maps. (May 1) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Hoffer (history, Univ. of Georgia; Sensory Worlds in Early America) provides a gripping narrative of seven transforming urban conflagrations that affect the social, economic, and political structure of the United States to this day. His work is enhanced not only by the requisite and expected use of archival sources and the consultation of fellow historians but by information provided by current fire fighters on the distinct sights and smells of various combusted materials. The fires that Hoffer includes are the pre Revolutionary War Boston fire of 1760; the preindustrial Pittsburgh fire of 1845; the iconic Chicago fire of 1871; the Baltimore fire of 1904; the Detroit race riot fire of 1967; the Oakland Hills, CA, fire of 1991; and the 9/11 fire in New York City. Although one may wonder why the famed 1906 San Francisco earthquake fire was not included while the more obscure though more recent California blaze was, Hoffer offers a distinct and valuable comparative history of these tragedies and of the individuals who endured these disasters and rebuilt their cities. His book belongs in specialist and general collections with other social analyses of catastrophes, such as floods and hurricanes a recently popular genre. Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of Congress Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

The seven fires chronicled here are those of Boston (1760), Pittsburgh (1845), Chicago (1871), Baltimore (1904), Detroit (1967), the East Bay of Oakland Hills (1991), and Lower Manhattan (2001). Hoffer examines the relation between fires and city life over the course of 250 years in the U.S. He explores how we as a people and a nation prepare for these fires and sometimes negligently increase the risk of them, how we fight them and sometimes lose, and how we are transfixed by the spectacle of conflagrations and yet summon the courage to combat them. These seven fires, he writes, are typical of the conflagrations of their times and are what he calls critical moments in our urban development that shaped the larger course of our history. Hoffer points out that while techniques of firefighting have changed over the years, some characteristics of fighting fires remain constant. He also details the dangers that firefighters face. Hoffer's mastery of narrative detail brings the history of these disasters vividly alive. GeorgeCohen. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

These portraits of major urban conflagrations underscore how they have been central to the evolution of US architecture and planning, to social and political divisions, to regional ecology, and to the ongoing professionalization of firefighting organization and controls. Hoffer's judicious selection begins with colonial Boston (1760) and the mercantile/industrial development of the 19th-century US: Pittsburgh (1845), Chicago (1870), and Baltimore (1904). Modern cases--Detroit (1967), Oakland Hills/Berkeley (1991), and New York (9/11)--explore socioeconomic divisions, ecological imbalances, and global problems that have engulfed cities. Each story translates copious research into clear settings, events, and voices that sometimes grow garrulous as the author pursues many concluding points. Throughout this collection, Hoffer (Univ. of Georgia) also identifies continuing issues of race, poverty, and suffering exacerbated by fire and subsequent land speculation. He also highlights underfunding and/or lack of attention to knowledge that might avoid or diminish future damages (including fire planning after 9/11). His attention to firefighters' knowledge and the ecologies of fire (linking Oakland and the World Trade Center as forms of wildfire, for example) proves especially illuminating. A good work for general readers, also useful for professionals and academic discussions. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. General Readers; Lower-division Undergraduates; Upper-division Undergraduates; Graduate Students; Researchers/Faculty; Two-year Technical Program Students; Professionals/Practitioners. Reviewed by G. W. McDonogh. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Peter Hoffer is Distinguished Research Professor of History at the University of Georgia. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.