The Great Fire (1995)

RGG: A description of the great Chicago fire. A bit confusing since the history is told from lots of different perspectives, so there's no central character to engage the reader. Also despite maps, it's difficult to follow the logistics of what is happening. Reading Level: 10-14.

This book combines first-person accounts with a narrative that reads like a novel. The pacing of the narrative matches the panic of the real life characters as they search for their family, run through a city in chaos, and try to escape the fires. Sepia colored maps, photos, and illustrations graphically show this historic incident and give a sense of the time period. The maps interspersed throughout the book give a graphic representation of the fire and how it spread over time. Murphy also informs the reader of the difference in communications back in 1871 with that of today and how a series of mistakes, led to the conflagration.

I like that this book was told through the eyes of people that survived the fire. It is always amazing to me to learn about major events like this that I had never even realized occurred previously. The photos in this book were fantastic as well.

This book tells the story of a great fire that destroyed the city of Chicago in 1871. The fire is described as a force that led people to believe that Chicago would never be built up again. The story describes what happened, how it happened, how the people reacted, and how the people recovered and rebuilt the city of Chicago.

This is undoubtedly a book for older children. The book is mostly text but the story is fascinating. Jim Murphy has done a lot of research on this historical event, the 1871 Chicago Fire. He does something special in this book by compiling the interviews he has done on the people who lived through this time and turning it into a fascinating story. Very worth the read just to get the experience of living through this time.