The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan is UCSB Reads 2014 pick. Eagan amassed an amazing amount of information around the people and events surrounding the 1910 firestorm that raged across three states.
Egan details how the Forest Service was born amid all the politics and capitalistic spirit of the day. I was surprised and not surprised that the petty partisan politics that we have today was just as strong 100 years ago. It makes me wonder how progress or anything gets done with so much back biting and hindrance to change.
Although there was a focus on Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot, many “regular people” were featured in the book: who they were, how they came to be in the fire area, what they did in the fire and what their outcome was. The details of the fire itself were vivid and complete. The devastation from the fire is documented from official forestry logs, personal diaries, newspapers and magazines.
There are discussions on the book in preparations for the author coming to speak on campus. In a discussion last week, someone asked why students would be interested in this story. I proposed two reasons: most of the forestry employees were men right out of college and UCSB is environmentally sensitive. I think the story is of interest on many levels.
