Historic Fires of New York City (Images of America) [Paperback]

Glenn P. Corbett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2005

Fire has shaped New York City's skyline and has transformed its political and cultural landscape. Historic Fires of New York City traverses the five boroughs, exploring the historic fires that have occurred since the very beginning of the metropolis. Starting with bucket-wielding Dutch burghers and accelerating with the appointment of 35 "strong, able, discreet, honest and sober men," the effort to bring order out of chaos has been a constant concern of the city for more than three centuries.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Glenn P. Corbett, assistant professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is an assistant chief of the Waldwick Fire Department in New Jersey. He serves as technical editor of Fire Engineering, a 128-year-old fire service journal. Donald J. Cannon, professor of history at St. Peter's College, is the author of Heritage of Flames, the standard reference on early American firefighting. He teaches an online fire science course entitled Fire in New York at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and is an honorary deputy chief in the Fire Department of New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (October 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738538574
• ISBN-13: 978-0738538570
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,397,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT -- all around: book, service, shipping!, November 25, 2008

By 

G. K. Pfeiffer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Historic Fires of New York City (Images of America) (Paperback)

As a retired member of the F.D.N.Y., I was VERY MUCH interested in seeing the photos (...and, their captions...) offered by the book, HISTORIC FIRES OF NEW YORK CITY -- and, I was certainly not disappointed! It was chock-full of pictures from fires I personally remembered as well as many "from before my time." (As is the case with most of the books I have seen in the "Images of America" series, I would heartily recommend this volume. It will be a great addition to the collection of anyone interested in the Fire Service or New York City history [in general] and/or the F.D.N.Y. [in particular].)

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative but..., July 19, 2006

By 

Rocco Dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Historic Fires of New York City (Images of America) (Paperback)

...a little slim.

I'm not a big fan of the Images of America series, although I've admittedly only read about a half dozen of them. However, Professors Corbett and Cannon's "Historic Fires of New York City" stands out as one of the better ones. The team of Corbett and Cannon proves to be a good team - both have extensive college teaching experience: Corbett in engineering and fire codes, Cannon in history, as well as many years of fire ground experience in the fire fighting profession.

Moving chronologically from the Dutch "Prowlers" who patrolled the streets of tiny New Amsterdam to the cataclysm of 9/11/01, Professors Corbett and Cannon identify, not only the major fires which ravaged Manhattan so often, but also the upgrades in fire-fighting equipment over the centuries. Many people assume that the reason so few buildings from colonial New York exist is that the city was so consummed with tearing down old buildings to make way for skyscrapers and, nowadays, condos. This is only part of the truth. The other part is that New York suffered so many disastrous fires over its long history that nothing really could survive. In particular, in 1776, shortly after the British took possession of Manhattan, a suspicious fire nearly burned down the entire downtown area. Sixty years later, a calamatous fire burned everything in what is now the financial district. Professors Cannon and Corbett bring all this to light in this slim book, and the illustrations are generous and effective.

However, you might have noticed I've used the word "slim" a few times. That's the only drawback that I could find with this book. The text isn't all that comprehensive; I found myself wanting to know more about the effects these fires had on the city's history and its future. However, this is not what the book set out to do, I believe. "Historic Fires of New York City" is not intended to be a scholarly text; it was geared to be informative in a simple way. And, overall, Professors Cannon and Corbett succeeded in what they set out to do.