Review: Great Chicago Fire, The (Images of America) by John Boda and Ray Johnson

Title: Great Chicago Fire, The (Images of America)
Authors: John Boda and Ray Johnson
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Publication Date: October 2, 2017
Edition: Kindle Edition (131 pages)

Genres:

• Nonfiction
• Chicago History
• United States History

Great Chicago Fire, The by John Boda

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


On Sunday evening, October 8, 1871, what is known as "the great Chicago fire began. Before it was over, two days later, it literally melted buildings made of brick and stone; burned buildings made of wood; and turned sand, along the lake shore, into glass. 18,000 buildings were destroyed. Approximately 100,000 people were homeless. At least 300 deaths resulted from the fire.
At this same time, more communities were being destroyed by fire, though I wasn't aware of that fact until I read this book. Communities on the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and Peshtigo, Wisconsin, also experienced catastrophic fires. The authors detail the various theories as to how these multiple events came to take place on the same days.

The authors chronicle "the great Chicago fire" in both images and words. Though the main focus is images, the image descriptions serve as an excellent narrative. There is much information here about the history of Chicago, the fire, the rebuilding after the fire, and what has happened to many of these buildings.