Today, wildland fire is everybody's business, from the White House to the fireground. Wildfires have grown bigger, more intense, more destructive--and more expensive. Federal taxpayers, for example, footed most of the $16 million bill for fighting the 2006 Esperanza Fire in Southern California, which marked the first time that an entire five-man engine crew was killed by fire, as well as the first time that an arsonist was successfully prosecuted...

A history of American wildfires recounts the most significant fires, sharing front-line stories, past and present firefighting strategies, and the apparent increase in fire occurrence and intensity in recent years.