Fionnáin reviewed Fire: a brief history by Stephen J. Pyne (Weyerhaeuser environmental book)
A spark but not quite a flame
3 stars
In the academic world of writing about fire, environmental historian Stephen J Pyne is regarded as an international expert. He has a deep understanding of the historical and social practices of fire management and fire ritual in many different cultures.
This book is presented as a brief history. It is brief, but the timeline is extensive, covering everything from pre-human period, through the first uses of fire for land management and hunting, to present-day technologies. Pyne is a good writer and the story is compelling, and he reveals many interesting things about the history of fire and how it has been used and manipulated by people in a multitude of ways. It is also refreshing to see that it is not solely a western story of fire, although it is predominantly.
There are very few references, so as a reader I had to trust Pyne's expertise, and while his knowledge …
In the academic world of writing about fire, environmental historian Stephen J Pyne is regarded as an international expert. He has a deep understanding of the historical and social practices of fire management and fire ritual in many different cultures.
This book is presented as a brief history. It is brief, but the timeline is extensive, covering everything from pre-human period, through the first uses of fire for land management and hunting, to present-day technologies. Pyne is a good writer and the story is compelling, and he reveals many interesting things about the history of fire and how it has been used and manipulated by people in a multitude of ways. It is also refreshing to see that it is not solely a western story of fire, although it is predominantly.
There are very few references, so as a reader I had to trust Pyne's expertise, and while his knowledge is clearly broad, this type of trust is disappointing in a book of this type.