Tim Egan has researched and written an excellent work of history: he tells the dramatic and compelling story of the first major wildfire in the new national forest system *and* helps us understand why it matters. In August 1910 3M acres of forest in the Bitterroot Mountains burned in a two-day maelstrom. The U.S. Forest Service, underfunded and understaffed, rushed to put together a response that would convince the public of its usefulness and that of public space. The parallels with today are significant, as climate change gives rise to more deadly fires and westerners deplore federal lands.