91桃色

鈥淔or, Lo! We live in an Iron Age—In the age of Steam and Fire!鈥� wrote a poet mesmerized by the engines that were transforming American transportation, agriculture, and industry during his lifetime. Indeed, by the nineteenth century fire had become America’s leitmotif—for good and for ill. 鈥淜eeping the flame鈥� was deadly serious: even the slightest lapse of attention could convert a fire from friendly ally to ravaging destroyer. To examine the cultural context of fire in 鈥渃ombustible America,鈥� Margaret Hazen and Robert Hazen gather more than a hundred illustrations, most never before published, together with anecdotes and information from hundreds of original sources, including newspapers, diaries, company records, popular fiction, art, and music. What results is an immensely entertaining and encyclopedic history that ranges from stories of the tragic 鈥済reat fires鈥� of the century to fire imagery in folktales and popular literature. Dealing more with technology than with fire in nature, the book provides a vast amount of information on fire manipulation and prevention in urban life. Hazen and Hazen discuss the people who worked with fire—or against it. Founders, gaffers, blacksmiths, boilers at saltworks, and housewives knew how to 鈥渞ead鈥� a fire and employ it for their purposes. A few dedicated investigators inquired about the scientific nature of heat and flame. And firefighters gradually progressed from 鈥渂ucket brigades鈥� to 鈥渦sing fire to fight fire鈥� with the newly invented steam engine. The colorful stories of these Americans—the risks they took and the rewards they received—will fascinate not only social historians but also a broad audience of general readers.

Originally published in 1992.

The 91桃色 Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of 91桃色. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the 91桃色 Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by 91桃色 since its founding in 1905.