Fire and Civilization [Paperback]

Johan Goudsblom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1995

According to mythology, people became truly "human" by learning to domesticate fire and cook food. Other great transformation - the birth of agriculture and the industrial revolution - represent huge leaps forward in our relations with fire. This book examines Homer and the Hebrew Bible, the Vestal Virgins and pioneering Roman fire brigades, the role of Hell-fire in Christianity's "civilizing campaign" and developments from the age of steam to "fire-powered" cars and nuclear fusion. Even today, bush and forest fires caused by short-sighted farming policies or sheer high spirits contribute to the disastrous international wood shortage. This work of wide-ranging scholarship both illuminates such current concerns, and makes readers look again at the whole course of human history. Johan Goudsblom is the author of "Dutch Society", "Sociology in the Balance", "Nihilism and Culture" and "Human History and Social Process".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Arguing that human control of fire has been a neglected topic in 20th-century social sciences, University of Amsterdam sociologist Goudsblom here surveys the role of fire throughout a vast span of history. Though his style is bland, the author draws on disciplines from anthropology to history and ecology to offer intriguing insights. He begins with the domestication of fire, its impact on agrarianization and its place in ancient Israel, Greece and Rome--where the private fire brigade was instituted. Goudsblom also assesses the significance of fire in culture, suggesting that dread of hell-fire developed as people learned to fear fire in war and in cities. Looking at fire in the industrial age, Goudsblom notes that progress brought the safety match and better fuels as well as greater military destruction and planned, contained forest fires. A final chapter ranges from the psychological analysis of arsonists to the symbolic use of fire in public demonstrations and riots.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

An offbeat, interesting view of the rise of civilization in relation to the control of fire. From hearths and hellfire to firearms, fission, and fusion, Dutch sociologist Goudsblom (University of Amsterdam) highlights the significance of fire in the human agenda. His research--tapping sources in anthropology, archaeology, and the history of science, religion, and technology--points up dual aspects: There is fire as a civilizing element--in cooking and chemistry, as a source of heat and light, and as a literal spark to the Industrial Revolution and transportation--and fire as burning, a source of fear, punishment (and sometimes purification), and of destruction by nature, arson, or war, as well as of sickness and death as a result of pollution and disease. Among the more compelling points is Goudsblom's view of the monotheistic religions as sources of diversity and separation in emerging agrarian/urban societies. The Bible, for example, inveighs against sacrifices to ``strange fire'' and fire cults. Otherwise, fire was just one of many natural ordeals until medieval times, when flames were used to punish heretics and witches and to ensure obedience to the faith. In contrast, the hearth was sacred in Greece and Rome, where temples housed fires tended by virgin priestesses (the placement of temples on hills also allowed fire to act as a beacon to ships at sea). Over the course of millennia, fire was increasingly tamed while its power escalated. Early on, ``curfews'' (the curbing of open fires at night) were imposed to protect towns from conflagrations. Ritual bonfires were held to get rid of refuse (and to burn cats). Building codes began to demand stone and brick over wood and thatch. Even as society has grown more ``civilized,'' however, it has become more incendiary. Thus the need for control is as great as ever--which is Goudsblom's final, well-made point. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140157972
• ISBN-13: 978-0140157970
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,635,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Rich and Rewarding Read, January 23, 2006

By 

Charles Marlin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire and Civilization (Hardcover)

The editorial reviews for this book indicate that it is "offbeat" and has a "bland" style. I did not think it offbeat or bland. It seems to be in the tradition of the Annales historians, focusing on the structure "fire" from prehistoric to contemporary times. Just as Fernand Braudel sheds light on social differences by describing scarcity and superfuity of food in early modern Europe, Goudsblom reveals much about society and human nature by describing the role of fire for the last few hundred thousand years. My main reactions to the book were (1) Why haven't I run across this before? and (2) Why did it take until the 1990's for someone to write it? Fire, like food, drink, shelter, has been a constant and essential structure throughout the human experience.

I see the style as modest, measured, reasonable, and not sensational, for which I rejoice. And it stikes me as "nourishing" rather than "bland".

This book is filled with great insights, and it has enough well-organized footnotes to direct the reader to more detailed source material. It would be the rare reader who agrees with everything Goudsblom says; but it would also be rare for a person to finish the book without feeling enriched.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book should be in Print, November 17, 2002

By 

Josephine Davis (Nunya Business, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fire and Civilization (Paperback)

This book is out of print, and it's a shame. It's a wonderful book, containing information and a point of view that more readers, specifically American readers, ought to know. It's a history of civilization from the point of view of humanity's control of fire. It's a social and cultural history of our control of fire. It tells the story of how fire has shaped us, our civiliation--you know, the story of civilization is pretty much the story of our relationship to fire, from the first groups of hominids gathering around the fire to cook (the thing that distinguishes us from other animals, says Levi Strauss) through our use of fossil fuel in the industrial revolution to our "control" of nuclear fusion today. Goudsblom talks about both the literal and symbolic role that our relationship to fire has played in our civilization--how that relationship has shaped the landscapes we inhabit, the cities we construct, the religions and philosophies we build. His book is a stellar (well, 5-stellar) example of a kind of history I love, and which we're seeing more and more of these days: it's a classic, thematic, interdisciplinary history that tells a fascinating story. It isn't for wimps--Goudsblom is Dutch, and there's a European sense of literate intellect in what he's doing, which means he doesn't talk down to you or sugar coat anything or simplify it. But he's also not one of those g- d- Intellectuals who's more interested in elaborating some airy conceptual scheme at the expense of readerly understanding. He's smart, and reading this book will make you smart too, about all kinds of things. Most Americans, god protect us, are remarkably parochial in their understanding. We ought to know more about nature, about our cultural roots. This book offers both kinds of understanding. I think it should be in print. Maybe if you buy a copy used, some publisher somewhere will notice.