Synopses & Reviews
Review
“How do people in an urban environment deal with the problem of fire? The essays in this book show how the answers vary depending on economic conditions, power structures, climate, and culture. An excellent collection.”—Johan Goudsblom, author of Fire and Civilization
Review
“A remarkably robust survey of cultures, cities, and histories that affirms the universality of fire’s impact within the urban setting.”—Stephen J. Pyne
Review
andldquo;An excellent, full-length biography of a figure central to the environmental history of the United States.andrdquo;andmdash;Science
Review
andldquo;Aldo Leopold is laboriously researched, masterfully synthesized, and felicitously written. . . . Through Meineandrsquo;s fascinating and lively narrative, we can at last . . . become better acquainted with one of the most important minds in the history of conservation.andrdquo;andmdash;The Bloomsbury Review
Review
andldquo;Meine has done a masterful job in presenting to his reader the family man, sportsman, natural resource manager, administrator, professor, philosopher, and poet.andrdquo;andmdash;Western Historical Quarterly
Review
andldquo;This is a story well worth reading and, happily, itandrsquo;s good fun to boot. The author has skillfully captured Leopold the man, the scientist, the philosopherandmdash;furthermore, anyone who begins to read it will soon be captured, too.andrdquo;andmdash;Gaylord Nelson, former U.S. Senator and founder of Earth Day
Review
andldquo;At this time no writer is better situated in place or time than Meine to understand and to put into practice Leopoldandrsquo;s ideas about man and nature. . . .Meineandrsquo;s biography of Leopold remains our best account of Leopoldandrsquo;s exemplary evolving ethical journey.andrdquo; andmdash;Jim Ballowe, North Dakota Quarterly
Synopsis
In most cities today, fire has been reduced to a sporadic and isolated threat. But throughout history the constant risk of fire has left a deep and lasting imprint on almost every dimension of urban society. This volume, the first truly global study of urban conflagration, shows how fire has shaped cities throughout the modern world, from Europe to the imperial colonies, major trade entrepôts, and non-European capitals, right up to such present-day megacities as Lagos and Jakarta. Urban fire may hinder commerce or even spur it; it may break down or reinforce barriers of race, class, and ethnicity; it may serve as a pretext for state violence or provide an opportunity for displays of state benevolence. As this volume demonstrates, the many and varied attempts to master, marginalize, or manipulate fire can turn a natural and human hazard into a highly useful social and political tool.
Synopsis
This biography of Aldo Leopold follows him from his childhood as a precocious naturalist to his profoundly influential role in the development of conservation and modern environmentalism in the United States. This edition includes a new preface by author Curt Meine and an appreciation by acclaimed Kentucky writer and farmer Wendell Berry.
About the Author
Curt D. Meine is director for conservation biology and history with the Center for Humans and Nature; senior fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation; research associate with the International Crane Foundation; and associate adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsinandndash;Madison. He is coeditor of The Essential Aldo Leopold, also published by the University of Wisconsin Press.
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction Part 1: Cities as Fire Regimes1 Jan van der Heyden and the Origins of Modern Firefighting: Art and Technology in Seventeenth-Century AmsterdamSusan Donahue Kuretsky 2 Governance, Arson, and Firefighting in Edo, 1600–1868Jordan Sand and Steven Wills 3 Taming Fire in Valparaíso, Chile, 1840s–1870sSamuel J. Martland 4 The Burning of a Modern City? Istanbul as Perceived by the Agents of the Sun Fire Office, 1865–1870Cornel Zwierlein 5 Imperial Russia’s Urban Fire Regimes, 1700–1905Cathy A. Frierson 6 Fighting Fires (or Not) in Porfirian MexicoAmy S. Greenberg Part 2: Fire as Risk and as a Catalyst of Change7 The Great Fire of Lisbon, 1755Mark Molesky 8 A Tale of Two Cities: The Pyro-Seismic Morphology of Nineteenth-Century ManilaGreg Bankoff 9 Fire and Urban Morphogenesis: Patterns of Destruction and Reconstruction in Nineteenth-Century MontrealJason Gilliland 10 The Great Fire of Hamburg, 1842: From Catastrophe to ReformDirk Schubert 11 Did the Fire Insurance Industry Help Reduce Urban Fires in the United States in the Nineteenth Century?Sara E. Wermiel 12 Inflaming the Fears of Theatergoers: How Fires Shaped the Public Sphere in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1880–1910Kristen McCleary 13 Points of Origin: The Social Impact of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and FireAndrea Rees Davies Part 3: The Politics of Fire14 The Politics of Singapore’s Fire NarrativeNancy H. Kwak 15 The Beirut Central District on Fire: Firefighting in a Divided City with Shifting Front Lines, 1975–1976Sofia Toufic Shwayri 16 Who Burned Cleveland, Ohio? The Forgotten Fires of the 1970sDaniel Kerr 17 “There Is More to This Fire Than Meets the Eye”: Anatomy of Fire Outbreaks in Lagos, Nigeria, 1980–2008Ayodeji Olukoju 18 Fires, Urban Environments, and Politics in Contemporary JakartaJérôme Tadié Afterword: Fire on the FringeStephen J. Pyne
ContributorsIndex