Low Price Guarantee
We Take School POs
Black Fire: The True Story of the Original Tom Sawyer--And of the Mysterious Fires That Baptized Gold Rush-Era San Francisco
Contributor(s): Graysmith, Robert (Author)

View larger image

ISBN: 0307720578     ISBN-13: 9780307720573
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Retail: $15.00OUR PRICE: $10.95  
  Buy 25 or more:OUR PRICE: $10.05   Save More!
  Buy 100 or more:OUR PRICE: $9.60   Save More!


  WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!   Click here for our low price guarantee

Binding Type: Paperback - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: October 2013
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Historical
- Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures
- History | United States - 19th Century
Dewey: B
Physical Information: 0.79" H x 5.21" W x 8.06" L (0.55 lbs) 288 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 1851-1899
- Locality - San Francisco, California
- Cultural Region - Northern California
- Geographic Orientation - California
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Maps, Price on Product, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

The first biography of the little-known real-life Tom Sawyer, told through a harrowing account of Sawyer's involvement in the hunt for a serial arsonist who terrorized mid-nineteenth century San Francisco.

When San Francisco Daily Morning Call reporter Mark Twain met Tom Sawyer in 1863, he was seeking a subject for his first novel. He learned that Sawyer was a volunteer firefighter, local hero, and a former "Torch Boy," racing ahead of hand-drawn fire engines at night carrying torches to light the way. When a mysterious serial arsonist known as "The Lightkeeper" was in the process of burning San Francisco to the ground, Sawyer played a key role in stopping him, helping to contain what is now considered the most disastrous and costly series of fires ever experienced by an American metropolis. By chronicling how Sawyer took it upon himself to investigate, expose, and stop the arsonist, Black Fire details Sawyer's remarkable life and illustrates why Twain would later feel compelled to name his iconic character after him when writing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

A vivid portrayal of the gritty, corrupt, and violent world of the Gold Rush-era West, Black Fire is the most vibrant and thorough account of Sawyer's relationship with Mark Twain, and of the devastating fires that baptized San Francisco.

 
Customer ReviewsSubmit your own review
 
To tell a friend about this book, you must Sign In First!