With spellbinding detail, Murphy follows the spread of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. His exacting research is woven with historical illustrations, maps, photographs and eye-witness accounts of survivors as he reports on the progress of the relentless flames burning through the wooden streets, buildings and walkways of the rain-deprived city with a power both dangerous and seductive to those in their path. In the fire's aftermath, Murphy chronicles the devastation: 300 people dead and 100,000 homeless - wandering streets or setting up shelters in parks and cemeteries. But out of the ashes, Murphy notes, a new city was built - one that pushed the poor from the city's center even as it presented a new and shining face to the world. (Ages 11-14)

The Great Fire of 1871 was one of most colossal disasters in American history. Overnight, the flourshing city of Chicago was transformed into a smoldering wasteland. The damage was so profound that few people believed the city could ever rise again.By weaving personal accounts of actual survivors together with the carefully researched history of Chicago and the disaster, Jim Murphy constructs a riveting narrative that recreates the event with drama and immediacy. And finally, he reveals how, even in a time of deepest dispair, the human spirit triumphed, as the people of Chicago found the courage and strength to build their city once again.