<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Quick and informative
Review: There are not a lot of sources on the Great Peshtigo Fire, so we must read what is available. The fire in Wisconsin occurred on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, but Wisconsin's was much more devestating. One out of every two individuals lost their lives, amounting to more than 1,000 souls. The fire's heat swept through the area like a hurricane and became so intense that metal melted and things that had been buried underground in hopes of being saved were destroyed from the heat. The book is just 64 pages from beginning to end, including two introductions and bibliography, etc. The main story told by Peter Pernin has some drawbacks. Being written just a few years after the calamity the language is a bit quaint, with people described as having "great consternation" with the approaching flames. Also as Pernin was a Catholic priest he talks about seeing the "finger of God" in the fire, however many people there at the time felt the same way regardless of religious affiliation. The magnitude of the fire demands more books with more research and information. Let's hope some authors and historians take up the challenge.
<< 1 >>
| 
