Young Men and Fire: A 25th Anniversary Reflection

jessie: Best nonfiction book I’ve read in 2023. This book was riveting, and gave me insight into to the writer’s motivations for research and writing. I always wanted to be a smokejumper/fire jumper and this book gave me a new understanding of and respect for those who braved the experience.

United States on Jan 02, 2024

Rick: Shows you a side of being a man which is absent from today's advice on manhood. Do yourself a favour and discover what you could be.

Australia on Feb 04, 2022

Kalojan Christow: I picked up this book after reading The Premonition by M.Lewis. Young Men and Fire is quoted there for the unbelievable survival of a smokejumper by the name of Dodge, during the Mann Gulch forest fire. I was curious to learn more about this technique pioneered by Dodge and ended up reading the book. I think given I had no clue about forest fires, a topic I never thought I would be necessarily interested in, I truly enjoyed McMillan’s writing. He is a gifted storyteller but also an outstanding investigator. The book is well researched and most importantly objective. I must say I would have probably enjoyed it better with a little less of the research presented in the final 80 pages, which were heavily focused on the mathematical modeling of forest fires.

Germany on Jan 02, 2022

LLB by the lake: I have purchased two previous copies but loaned them out and so decided to get another and never let it out of my sight 😊

Canada on Dec 17, 2021

KY: 映画「オンリー･ザ・ブレイブ」を見て興味がわき、購入しました。期待通りの素晴らしい本です。

Japan on Feb 03, 2019

John Matel: Book Review: Young Men and Fire: A True Story of the Mann Gulch Fire

This is a multidimensional story. It is the story of the sixteen-man that in 1949 fought a wildfire at Mann Gulch, Montana and of the thirteen who died there. It is also the story of an on-the-spot innovation, subsequently made famous by studies of quick thinking when crew leader Wag Dodge saved himself from the fire by lighting another, burning the fuel and then sheltering in the burned out are have the problem of organizational behavior and small-unit cohesion among a group and a leader unaccustomed to working with the team. There is the story of fire-science that was greatly stimulated by the events at Mann Gulch. We could talk about the investigation of inc and court cases resulting or about the investigation, much of it never to-be-resolved, finished as much as it ever will be by the author almost forty years after the event, with the fi report cut short by the death of the author himself.

So, I recommend this book for if you are interested in any of the above subjects, or if you just want an excitin or are attracted by the forces of nature. Since I cannot cover all the details, I will go after...

United States on Feb 07, 2017

Mr. Martin R. Browne: I bought this when I was researching on the web for background to a song by James Keelaghan, Canadian singer/songwriter. called "Cold Missouri Waters". It is about the death of 13 young parachutist firefighters in 1949 when a forest fire jumped a canyon and cut off their retreat. Of the two survivors of the crew the song focuses on the story as told by the crewboss, Dodge and the Book expands on Dodge's part in his survival. The book is factual and a chronological account of the tragedy. Interesting facts and a well-crafted narration.

United Kingdom on Feb 13, 2013

J. Matthews: The story of the Mann Gulch fire is a story of adventurous young men and their collision with startling tragedy. It is a mystery story, an investigative story, a story of an older man trying to discovery and understand something from long ago, something deeply painful, something most people wanted to forget. It is a story of youth and courage, of the woods and woodsmen, of tragic loss and the suffering of loved ones.

Norman writes:

"Those who knew something about the woods or about nature should soon have perceived an alarming gap between the almost sole purpose, clear but narrow, of the early Smokejumpers and the reality they were sure to confront, reality almost anywhere having inherent in it the principle that little things suddenly and literally can become big as hell, the ordinary can suddenly become monstrous, and the upgulch breeze suddenly can turn to murder. Since this principle comes about as close to being universal as a principle can, you might have thought someone in the early history and training of the Smokejumpers would have realized that something like the Mann Gulch fire would happen before long. But no one seems to have sensed this first principle...

United States on Aug 27, 2012