A review by jrace
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan

4.0

This ended up being the book I read on our Fall 2010 road trip. Tim Egan is one of my favorite writers, perhaps because he writes about things that are so close to my day to day life, in this case, the US Forest Service. This is the first detailed account I have read of the relationship between Gifford Pinchot and Teddy Roosevelt and it was fascinating. I was intrigued by the fact that the large fire the book centers on took place in the same year as the huge avalanches at Stevens Pass and Rogers Pass. I also found it interesting to comprehend TR setting aside 180 million acres of public land in a very short time. This event may have done as much to shape the American conservationist identity as any. If you like this, be sure to also consider Egan's books the Good Rain and the Worst Hard Time.