With spellbinding detail, Murphy follows the spread of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. His exacting research is woven with historical illustrations, maps, photographs and eye-witness accounts of survivors as he reports on the progress of the relentless flames burning through the wooden streets, buildings and walkways of the rain-deprived city with a power both dangerous and seductive to those in their path. In the fire's aftermath, Murphy chronicles the devastation: 300 people dead and 100,000 homeless - wandering streets or setting up shelters in parks and cemeteries. But out of the ashes, Murphy notes, a new city was built - one that pushed the poor from the city's center even as it presented a new and shining face to the world. (Ages 11-14)