The Fire Inside: Firefighters Talk About Their Lives, by Steve Delsohn (PB, 1996, $0.50)
Against the Fires of Hell: The Environmental Disaster of the Gulf War, by T. M. Hawley (HC, 1992, $2.50)
"Oil in the Gulf" in 1992 meant oil in the Persian Gulf. We all saw the pictures of Kuwait's burning oil fields. We all rejoiced when the fires were put out, but the story did not end there. Read here about the ongoing battle with the residuals of burning crude oil: in the Persian Gulf, on the beaches, in the air, in the lakes and in the desert sands. Foreigners could always go home, but not the natives, the humans, plants and animals, who have to live with the ongoing pollution. This book was written in 1992, which leaves the question of how life goes on for them now. I also realize how wonderful it was that Hussein did not set fire to his own wells in the second Gulf War. Even so...
Fire, by Sebastian Junger (HC, 2001, $3)
From the author of "The Perfect Storm":
"What is this fascination that roots fire fighters in their tracks while 300-foot flames twist out of a stand of spruce? Why do journalists... crawl up to front lines even though there's almost no information of any journalistic value there?" Included here are essays on fire fighting in the steep canyons of Idaho, on "the murderous mechanics of the diamond trade in Sierra Leone, to the logic of guerrilla warfare in Afghanistan and the forensics of genocide in Kosovo." This book is not for the faint of heart.
Fire! The Drama...The Riggs... the Gear... the Rescues... the Heroism, by Joy Masoff (oversize HC, 1998, for young adults, $1)
This is written for young adults, but I too found it educational, and I 'm a long way away from being young.
Look for these books on the new non-fiction table. Avail. 8/19.
