The Great Fire of London

by David A. Weiss, Joseph Papin (Illustrator)

A historical recounting of the facts concerning the great fire of London.

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[Siobhain]

After reading Master Cornhill by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, I was interested in learning more about the Great Fire of London. As a home schooling mom, I learned long ago that I can learn quite a lot about a historical time period by reading children's books on the topic. That was very true with this book by David A Weiss. He relies heavily on the eyewitness accounts written by Samuel Pepys. With this book which I had checked out from the library, the topic was brought to life so that I could understand better the times and things alluded to in Master Cornhill. I found the time period fascinating. I thought this book covered the subject so well that I bought a copy of it for our home library. The particular copy which I now own is an ex-library book and is not marked J or YA, but I think this would be a perfect book for a middle school through high school-aged student who is interested in the London Fire. It is 132 pages long, has approximately one line-drawn illustration per chapter as well as a map of London at the time, and has an good index at the back. There are no notes or footnotes, but there is a bibliography.

[Emily]

"Rebekah"'s review from 2009 is unfair. I found the book to be descriptive, concise, and informative.

[Rebekah]

Reads like a Dr. Seuss book.