"For, Lo We live in an Iron Age--In the age of Steam and Fire "
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. "Keeping the flame" 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 "combustible America," 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 "great fires" 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 "read" 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 "bucket brigades" to "using fire to fight fire"
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 Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand
technology to again make available previously out-of-print books
from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press.
These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these
important books while presenting them in durable paperback
editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly
increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the
thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since
its founding in 1905.
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