The Big Burn Tyson Kriley
Tyson Kriley
United States History
March 1st, 2015
The Big Burn Book Review On August 20th of 1910, a wildfire caused by lightning burned three million acres of Washington, Montana, and Idaho, and killed 84 citizens. In the book The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan, Egan explains that the progressive republicans Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot’s conservation efforts for national forests were solidified by this catastrophic event, due to the heroic efforts of the U.S. Forest Service. Although others like William Howard Taft and Senator Heyburn hindered their efforts prior to the fire, eventually the efforts of the Forest Rangers prove their worth. The book highlights the hardships the rangers go through at the beginning of their service, as well as the political difficulties that Roosevelt and Pinchot experience against industrialists, who want to use the land for resources and industrialization instead of preserving the land. In the first part if the book, Egan goes in depth into the relationships that Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot build throughout the beginnings of their political careers, as well as their own relationships. The way Egan describes the two is very interesting, because the two relate so closely it is as if the two were brothers. The two both have an intense love for the wilderness, excitement and peril. Egan goes in depth as well into each of their lives separately, which gives the reader an excellent look into their history. Egan, however, goes too in depth into Pinchot’s personal life, and talks about him for the majority of parts one and three. He also includes several parts of Pinchot’s personal life that is quite irrelevant to the book’s overall purpose. For instance, Egan mentions that Pinchot was a “moody, self-lacerating young man” with some mental problems.1 Egan digresses quite a bit from the thesis of this book when mentioning Pinchot’s mental issues, and this is not necessary
United States History
March 1st, 2015
The Big Burn Book Review On August 20th of 1910, a wildfire caused by lightning burned three million acres of Washington, Montana, and Idaho, and killed 84 citizens. In the book The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan, Egan explains that the progressive republicans Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot’s conservation efforts for national forests were solidified by this catastrophic event, due to the heroic efforts of the U.S. Forest Service. Although others like William Howard Taft and Senator Heyburn hindered their efforts prior to the fire, eventually the efforts of the Forest Rangers prove their worth. The book highlights the hardships the rangers go through at the beginning of their service, as well as the political difficulties that Roosevelt and Pinchot experience against industrialists, who want to use the land for resources and industrialization instead of preserving the land. In the first part if the book, Egan goes in depth into the relationships that Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot build throughout the beginnings of their political careers, as well as their own relationships. The way Egan describes the two is very interesting, because the two relate so closely it is as if the two were brothers. The two both have an intense love for the wilderness, excitement and peril. Egan goes in depth as well into each of their lives separately, which gives the reader an excellent look into their history. Egan, however, goes too in depth into Pinchot’s personal life, and talks about him for the majority of parts one and three. He also includes several parts of Pinchot’s personal life that is quite irrelevant to the book’s overall purpose. For instance, Egan mentions that Pinchot was a “moody, self-lacerating young man” with some mental problems.1 Egan digresses quite a bit from the thesis of this book when mentioning Pinchot’s mental issues, and this is not necessary