A review by bhauser
The Great Fire by Jim Murphy

4.0

I love Jim Murphy's ability to write about an event in history through the lens of those who lived it. In this book his research dispells the myths of the great fire that destroyed Chicago in 1871, and points out many errors in reporting and handling the fire, and natural forces that took place enbling the fire to travel far and fast across the city. The photographs and illustrations are well placed and help with visualizing the destruction but what I found most helpful were the maps of the city at the end of each chapter that showed the progress of the fire and key places mentioned in that chapter.