Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire

Cycle of Fire

by Stephen J. Pyne

From prehistory to the present-day conservation movement, Pyne explores the efforts of successive American cultures to master wildfire and to use it to shape the landscape.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ecology, Research, Environment, Politics, Conservation

680 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Judd Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Pyne's earlier books, it's quintessentially his style. The history herein is a perfect companion to the more contemporary focused "Between Two Fires."

At times, the writing can slow down in incredible detail about the history. It also shows the same challenge as Between Two Fires in terms of covering a /lot/ of ground without a really compelling organizational structure, making it feel a little longer (and it's already a long book).

I'd only recommend to those interested in fire, but you can do no better than Pyne for understanding the history of fire in America.

[Lisa Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember the case for letting Malibu burn? Here's America's leading authority on fire, testifying for the prosecution. But Fire in America (just one in Pyne's suite of meditations on the career of carbon-based beings on "fire planet" earth) is also a wonderful example of what cultural history looks like when it is really historical. Blessedly free of noble savages and other pre-humans, the book is an informative and instructive look at intertwined and conflicting fire powers in the land that would become the United States.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book. It is as grand and imposing as the fire situation it details, but Pyne's prose, at once clean and concise and then luxurious and narrative, makes you want to keep on. A must.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book on the history of fire that is free from all the simplistic assumptions and myths about wildfires.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a cultural history of the various (primarily) US agencies dealing with forest and WUI (wildland urban interface) fires. I went into it visualizing an exploration of the relationship between fire and the multitudinous lifeforms here on earth, from lodgepole pine to human civilizations, and there is that here, yes, but way too much of the bureaucratic culture in addition.

I could have wished for much less detail about the constantly shifting policies among the constantly evolving governmental entities and more explanation about several important terms that the author frequently used. For instance, I could not find any description of what the "hour control program" (one of many cycling core fire control approaches developed by the Forest Service) actually consisted of: all the index references were self-referential and if somewhere in the text there exists an explanation of why and how this program was conceived and implemented I missed it.

Pyne spent decades of his young adulthood out on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon braving wildfire with his fellow hotshots and inevitably being formed with his comrades into firefighting quasi-warriors, all united by the experience of shared battles. He mentions all this in his Preface to the paperback edition and it was an enticing opener for me, thinking that, in addition to following the history of how mankind has used fire to change ecosystems to suit their needs (extend grazing land, clear woodlands of potential ambush areas, drive game into lines of hunters, etc.), I might get a closer look at wildfire from a particular firefighter's perspective through an occasional personal anecdote. But I have to conclude that the author is too much the scholar to detract from this monumental study by digressing into the personal.

All these gripes aside, I hung in there for the embedded fascinating nuggets of history created by both natural and anthropogenic fire, and there are plenty of these. I'll just confess that about two-thirds of the way through I began to skim for these moments of heightened interest. As a casual reader this was the only way I could get through it and enjoy what I found there, which I did.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably a very informative book, but it was far too technical for me. I had to give up after 40 pages.