The Big Burn

Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America

Ranked #4 in Firefighting, Ranked #9 in Civil Engineeringsee more rankings.

On the afternoon of August 20, 1910, a battering ram of wind moved through the drought-stricken national forests of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, whipping the hundreds of small blazes burning across the forest floor into a roaring inferno that jumped from treetop to ridge as it raged, destroying towns and timber in the blink of an eye. Forest rangers had assembled nearly ten thousand men  —  college boys, day workers, immigrants from mining camps  —  to fight the fire. But no living person had seen anything like those flames, and neither the rangers nor anyone else knew how to subdue... more

Rankings by Category

The Big Burn is ranked in the following categories:


Similar Books

If you like The Big Burn, check out these similar top-rated books:


Learn: What makes Shortform summaries the best in the world?