The Big Burn: by Timothy Egan

Got this from my daughter for Christmas and it was so engaging that I finished it in two days.  Basically it's two stories.  The first describes the 1910 forest fire in the Bitterroot Mountains along the Montana/Idaho border that many still consider the largest forest fire in U. S. history. The science of fire fighting was non-existent at the time and the resulting holocaust was unlike anything  the country had seen. The second theme is the role that Teddy Roosevelt and his friend and confident and the first head of the new brand new U.S Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, had in creating public lands, especially national forests.  These two men, both born to wealth and priviledge, probably did more to secure the treasure of pulic lands for the common man than anyone in history.  Their battles against a corrupt Congress controlled by the extractive industries, the railroads and other big business rings too true to the situation in the Congress today. In fact, I was constatnly struck by the similarities in the issues and struggles that Pinchot and Roosevelt encountered in their battles for public lands with what's going on in the country today.  It's as if history is again repeating itself.  

Highly recommended.