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Title: Fire and Civilization by Johan Goudsblom, Johan Gouldsblom ISBN: 0-14-015797-2 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: March, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: Book should be in Print
Comment: 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.