Smokechasing

Rating:
Summary: useful to those who think AND do
Review: This is a good collection of essays on the world of wildland fire, from history to philosophy to grubbing in the dirt. It is not for those who are not already part of wildland fire; you have to DO it to get it, I guess. If you get it, the essays on prescribed fire are thoughtful criticisms of the status quo, and are strong calls for those of us who use prescribed fire to stop taking it for granted before we lose it. Those essays are highly recommended for all thinking firefighters and fire managers.

Rating:
Summary: Chasing not smoke but meaning
Review: This may be the most confusing book I've ever read. It isn't that
there isn't useful information in it, it's just it's scattered, repetitious, and intermixed with large blocks of what I assume Mr. Pyne thinks is relevant philosophy. You'll find yourself skipping over a great many paragraphs of this last.

The other major failing it that, while the author devotes a great deal of (scattered) space to his criticisms of existing wildfire control practices, he never makes clear what methodology he is in favor of.

Save your time and money and skip this one. I wish I had.