Synopses & Reviews
A riveting account of a monster firestorm -- the rarest kind of catastrophic fire -- and the extraordinary people who survived its wrath.On October 8, 1871 -- the same night as the Great Chicago Fire -- an even deadlier conflagration was sweeping through the lumber town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, 260 miles north of Chicago. The five-mile-wide wall of flames, borne on tornado-force winds of 100 miles per hour, tore across more than 2,400 square miles of land, obliterating Peshtigo in less than one hour and killing more than 2,000 people.
Firestorm at Peshtigo places the reader at the center of the blow-out. Through accounts of newspaper publishers Luther Noyes and Franklin Tilton, lumber baron Isaac Stephenson, parish priest Father Peter Pernin, and meteorologist Increase Lapham -- the only person who understood the unusual and dangerous nature of this fire -- Denise Gess and William Lutz re-create the story of the people, the politics, and the place behind this monumental natural disaster, delivering it from the lost annals of American history.
Drawn from survivors' letters, diaries, interviews, and local newspapers, Firestorm at Peshtigo tells the human story behind America's deadliest wildfire.
Review
“Another stunning disaster read. Denise Gess and William Lutz strike a pitch-perfect balance between historical detail and writing style.” —
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution“A heartbreaking narrative history that captures the infernos full horror.” —Raleigh News Observer
“Vivid and compelling history.” —The Boston Globe
“A hot read. The story is gripping and ghastly and true.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer
Synopsis
On the same night as the Great Chicago Fire--October 8, 1871--an even deadlier conflagration swept through the lumber down of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, killing more than 2,000 people. This account of the deadly firestorm is drawn from survivors' letters, diaries, interviews, and local newspapers. 16-page insert. 4 maps.
Synopsis
“Novelist Denise Gess and historian William Lutz brilliantly restore the event to its rightful place in the forefront of American historical imagination.” —Chicago Sun-TimesOn October 8, 1871—the same night as the Great Chicago Fire—the lumber town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, was struck with a five-mile-wide wall of flames, borne on tornado-force winds of one hundred miles per hour that tore across more than 2,400 square miles of land, obliterating the town in less than one hour and killing more than two thousand people.
At the center of the blowout were politically driven newsmen Luther Noyes and Franklin Tilton, money-seeking lumber baron Isaac Stephenson, parish priest Father Peter Pernin, and meteorologist Increase Lapham. In Firestorm at Peshtigo, Denise Gess and William Lutz vividly re-create the personal and political battles leading to this monumental natural disaster, and deliver it from the lost annals of American history.
About the Author
Denise Gess, author of two critically acclaimed novels, is the visiting assistant professor of fiction writing at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
William Lutz is a professor of English at Rutgers University, Camden, and author of fifteen books, including the bestseller Doublespeak. They live in Philadelphia.