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Jan 01, 2011

Mahlon rated it:

Timothy Eagan's The Big Burn tells the story of the Nation's largest wildfire, which burned parts of Idaho, Montana, and Washington. It burned August 20-21 1910, killing 87 (including 78 firefighters) The great fire severely tested the recently founded U.S. Forest Service, leading many to question it's mission, and even it's existence. Eagan uses the fire to discuss the history of the Forest Service, and to highlight it's place in president Theodore Roosevelt's conservation plan, and his friends More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2011

Marc rated it:

Outstanding, highly readable history of the Great Fire of 1910 that burned 3.2 million acres in and around the Bitterroots National Forest in Idaho and Montana. The author moves deftly between (a) the immediacy of the fire and the experiences of people caught up in it, and (b) the powerful business and political interests whose actions both contributed to and were affected by the disaster.

Timothy Egan has done a tremendous amount of research, but what emerges most clearly (and power More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2010

Richard rated it:

An enjoyable history novel about the creation of the Forest Service and many National Forest in the West. The author, Timothy Egan, does a nice job of dividing The Big Burn into 3 parts. Part one explores the struggles of Gifford Pinchot (the first US Chief Forester) and President Roosevelt as they create the conservation movement and the Forest Service. The Service with newly forestry graduates were tasked to watch over the newly created national forest in the West. The second part of the novel More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 27, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

Over the long term, greed was the winner of this battle. Some things never change. We could use another Teddy Roosevelt here in the 21st century. Progressive, outspoken, tenacious, and so gifted with words.

This book is a lot more about politics than it is about The Big Burn. I agree with another reviewer who said the title is misleading, as the book is much more about Gifford Pinchot than Teddy Roosevelt. Also, it is never made clear how the fire "saved America." Stil More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 26, 2011

Adelle rated it:

A beautifully written, engaging book. Before I had read the book, I had never heard of the Fire of 1910, and probably wouldn't have cared even if I had. Timothy Egan put me right there in the Big Lonesome and the Bitterroot Mountains with flames roaring round me on all sides. I cared what happened to the forest. I cared what happned to Ed Pulaski and his crew. Would some of them be alive when all was over?

I liked the rightness of the historical circle. Teddy Roosevelt, havi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 26, 2010

Kurt rated it:

I first heard about the 1910 event known as "The Big Burn" many years ago while reading about hiking trails in my home state of Idaho. The magnitude of this huge forest fire intrigued me at the time; so, when I saw a book on the bestseller list with the title The Big Burn I immediately took notice.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It has so many qualities that make it my kind of book: Nature, Idaho, History, Conservation, Adventure, Politics, Tragedy, Disaster, and best More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2010

Michelle rated it:

Egan intersperses the story of Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pichot, and the early conservation movement with an account of the hurricane force wild fire that burned down acres upon acres of woods in northern Idaho, Washington, and Montana that finally solidified public opinion around public lands. The first portion of the book focuses on Roosevelt and his administration's efforts to set aside land as a public trust. Just as in The Worst Hard Time, where Egan really shines, though, is when he tells More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 04, 2010

Carol rated it:

From the title of this book, I knew I would learn about Teddy Roosevelt and the fire of 1910. And I did. What Egan is really telling here is the story of the birth of the US Forest Service and Gifford Pinchot, set in the context of turn-of-the-century politics and times. It was a fascinating read (listen, in my case); I learned a lot about American history and am inspired to learn more.

I worked on a forest fire in Idaho once and never gave much thought about why the tool I carried More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 03, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

This book details what a struggle it was to establish the national park system. Sounds boring right? Well it couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm guessing the majority of people have seen the Grand Canyon or Old Faithful and I think we take it for granted that it was always there or will always be there. It was such a political battle that it took a forest fire with more energy than the Hiroshima bomb to make the idea stick.

We all know Teddy Roosevelt had the idea but this boo More...

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Apr 14, 2011

Patrick rated it:

This was a very good historical non-fiction. The name of the book refers to an enormous forest fire that swept through the mountains of Idaho and Montana in 1910. Numerous small fires had been burning in the mountains all throughout the dry summer, but they were turned into one enormous conflagration in mid August by hurricane force winds blowing in from the west. The fire raged for two days destroying two towns, hundreds of homes and over a million acres of forest. The fact that the de More...

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Feb 17, 2011

Paul rated it:

Many of us know Timothy Egan from his book, "The Worst Hard Time", a story of the disaster known as, "The Dust Bowl".

Egan has come back with another historical book in "The Big Burn". This is the story of the largest forest fire in America. This is hard to believe with all the large fires that have taken place in the western states. "The Big Burn" destroyed 3 million acres in two days. I tried to put this in perspective by taking the acre o More...

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Feb 05, 2011

John rated it:

An insightful and informative look at what could be considered the genesis of the conservation movement in this country, spearheaded by none other than President Teddy Roosevelt and the equally gilded Gifford Pinchot, both of whom managed to meld lives of privilege with a relentless love of the outdoors and the wonders of nature.

Timothy Egan has successfully woven the histories of these two men with those of the people who shared their zeal for a life among the towering trees of Idaho More...

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Nov 24, 2010

Ruth rated it:

The massive fire in August of 1910 that swept though the states of Washington, Oregon and Montana destroyed millions of acres of prime forest and caused an incredible loss to the nation. When the huge winds hit these arid states it not only destroyed everything in it's path but it pitted a fledgling foresty service against Money interests in the East who had enjoyed uncontrolled harvesting of the most valuable lumber the country owned. Political battles that ensued would not heal for many years. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 10, 2010

Chris rated it:

Though the subtitle mentions Teddy Roosevelt specifically, this is not a biography and he's hardly the book's lone focus. The prologue made a bit of a rough entry point for me, but I really liked the book's three part structure and found it to be an engrossing read.

Part I, "In on the Creation," focuses on the creation of the National Forest Reserves and the infant forestry service. Much of the story is about Roosevelt and close friend and founding forester Gifford Pinchot More...

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Aug 09, 2010

Andrew rated it:

In harrowing detail, the author details how 1910's "Big Burn" ravaged almost 3 million acres of national forest. The newly formed forest service tried to control the fire abut failed. The fire wiped out towns, and hundreds of people were killed.

The book also details the history of the National Forest service and its first leader, Gifford Pinchot. Pinchot was the country's first national forester, but business interests in Congress vetoed efforts to provide the organizatio More...

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Aug 01, 2010

Colleen rated it:

This wasn't as good as "The Worst Hard Times", but still pretty good. The first third of the book was kind of slow as he covers some of the history & politics that led to the creation of the national forests. It's also really infuriating to read about politicians that were vehemently against things like national forests but really in favor of child labor. The middle third of the book--the description of the fire, the people involved, and the events surrounding it--picks up a bit. C More...

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Feb 08, 2010

Randy rated it:

Timothy Egan writes great books (as well as strong columns for the New York Times). He tricks us a bit with the sub-title. Although there is much about Teddy Roosevelt the main character of this tale is really Gifford Pinchot, the nation's first forester and father of the US Forrest Service and the man most responsible for saving what's left of America's forests. Another of the featured characters is Ed Pulaski, an original forest ranger who was so damaged by the The Big Burn that he never reall More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2010

Will rated it:

In 1910, the US Forestry Service was in its infancy. Teddy Roosevelt had put Gifford Pinchot in charge of the foundling agency. But robber barons and local commercial interests used all their resources to try to smother the infant in its crib, using their control of media to lobby against and lie about the Forest Service, and using their money to corrupt public officials in order to deny the Service the manpower and resources needed to actually protect the growing quantity of land held in public More...

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Jan 02, 2010

Judy rated it:

Timothy Eagan (The Worst Hard Time) has a winner here. I circled around this book in my favorite book store for months, then noticed that it ended up on several "Best of 2009" lists, and ended up pouncing on it when I came across it on the new books shelf of my local library. What a fabulous story. Egan seamlessly weaves together two stories. The first is a fascinating account of the August 1910 forest fire that over a two day period tore through the newly created national forests More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 18, 2009

Jonathan rated it:

First off, let me start by saying that Teddy Roosevelt is the man. Anybody who cares about wilderness conservation or has visited a national park should be thankful that he was our president. Egan's book is not only about the great forest fire of 1910 (the titular big burn), but about Roosevelt's efforts to set aside land for future generations. There is plenty of backstory as Egan explores the kinship between TR and his appointed head of forestry Gifford Pinchot, a kinship which ultimately l More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2012

Mark rated it:

Egan places the terrible forest fire of August, 1910 in the context of the attempts of Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot to set aside parts of America for conservation, so their beauty could be enjoyed by future generations. Stymied by corrupt politicians in their own party, Roosevelt and Pinchot still managed to establish national parks with millions of acres of pristine wonder.

However, Pinchot, while passionate, also underestimated and misunderstood the power of forest fires. Af More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 06, 2011

Frances rated it:

In an attempt to make a "long" car trip more enjoyable, we decided to listen to this book during our trip to Pittsburgh. We'd both read Timothy Egan's book, "The Worst Hard Times," so this seemed an easy choice.

I hadn't ever heard of this 1910 fire, nor I was I aware of this aspect of Teddy Roosevelt's influence on the creation of the Forest Service. Further, although I think of Muir and Roosevelt as crucial early figures in the environmental movement, I was not More...

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Oct 28, 2011

Bruce rated it:

An interesting, exciting read. Though this work is about the major forest fire of 1910, it is also the story of the beginnings of the conservation movement, such as it is, in the US. Teddy Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot were instrumental in setting aside millions of acres of forest despite corrupt politicians and robber barons. The politicians and robber barons attempted to starve the forest service to death but then came the big burn and the heroic stories that came out of it. The forest ser More...

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Sep 25, 2009

Tim rated it:

With wildfires again in the news and raging on the west coast, this book becomes all the more timely. Telling the story of the largest forest fire ever to strike the United States, Egan looks that the ecological, political and social implications of wildfires and forest fires and the response of humans to nature's fury. At the same time, Egan profiles the uniquely American icon Theodore Roosevelt, a man of deep contradictions, yet stern beliefs in both nature and man's place within it. There is More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 01, 2011

Heather rated it:

As he did with The Worst Hard Time, Timothy Egan has created an engaging narrative of the sometimes dramatic conflict between man and nature. This time the focus is on an enormous forest fire that burned nearly three million acres in three western states, and set the stage for Forest Service policy for decades. Inhabited with giant characters like Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and the heroic Ed Pulaski, Egan's story takes readers into the political web of the early twentieth century, and the More...

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Aug 03, 2011

Rick rated it:

This book vividly presents an era which I have explored in many other excellent histories, but focuses on an event of which I was totally unaware, the great fire of 1910 that nearly ended the fledgling U.S. Forest Service. Timothy Egan does an excellent job of laying out the earliest days of this critical organization and the important roles of Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt in getting it started. He also brings to life the political tactics that were used to try to discredit, underfun More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 10, 2011

Lindsey rated it:

Wonderful history book regarding how Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and the big burn of 1910 shaped US Forest Service policy regarding wildfire suppression and the overall mission of the FS. The title is misleading; the big burn didn't "save America", it did however bring more support for the FS, FS employees, and conservation in general. I would have liked more analysis of the fire's repercussions, rather than an in depth look at the lives of Roosevelt, Pinchot and those directly More...

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Oct 14, 2011

Jeff rated it:

The Big Burn refers to the fire of 1910 that consumed the Rocky Mountains, obliterating an area larger than New England and resulting in several deaths. The book chronicles the efforts of the fledgling U.S. Forest Service as they tried to contain the massive blaze. It also spends quite a bit of time on the history of the Forest Service and how the fire was used to cement the agency's role in U.S.

Prior to reading this book, I had never heard of the Big Burn (also known as the "Big Blowu More...

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Mar 07, 2010

Carolyn rated it:

By 1910, the U.S. Forest Service was a fledgling agency borne from Teddy Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot's love of the outdoors and their foresight to know that if they didn't act to conserve nature it would be destroyed by railroad barons, lumber millionaires, and mining concerns. However, business interests ruled the day, and several notoriously crooked politicians, bought off by the timber industry, were working just as diligently to destroy the Service. Hopelessly underfunded, the Servi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2010

Steve rated it:

History of the forest service and how a huge set of forest fires in Northern Idaho, Western Montana, and Eastern Washington brought it about. Retells some pretty famous stories, such as the relationship between Teddy Roosevelt & John Muir that Ken Burns did such a good job on, in his recent PBS series. Gifford Pinchot is well portrayed, a very interesting character. Also fascinating is Ed Pulaski (the famous tool, which I had a lot of experience with, is named after him) who fought the fire in W More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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