Fire Engines & Fire-Fighting

David Burgess-Wise

Published by Octopus, hardcover with dustjacket, illustrated


The history of man's age-old battle to control the ravages of fire is described in this exciting and colourfuI book. The primitive hoses of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the desperate remedies of medieval man, and the enthusiastic engineering of the nineteenth century: the development of fire-­fighting equipment up to today's sophisticated jet-powered pumps is traced in detail. From the burning of Rome and the Great Fire of London to the Chicago Fire of 1871 and the Sao Paulo high-rise holocaust, historie fires are discussed and illustrated.