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Employing the same vivid prose and storytelling skill that made his Report from Ground Zero a national bestseller, Dennis Smith reconstructs those harrowing days from the perspective of the people who lived through them. Smith draws on hundreds of individual accounts and official documents to unearth the true story of the fires—from the corrupt officials who left the city woefully unprepared for disaster, to the militia officers who enforced martial law with deadly force, to the individual heroes who battled the blaze and saved untold lives. San Francisco Is Burning is a thrilling disaster tale that brings a lost chapter of history back to riveting life. BACKCOVER: “Riveting.”
—The Washington Post
“So riveting it is enraging…[Smith’s] message is the one that matters most.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“A finely woven human story of tragedy, death, heroism and blunder…This book is an eye-opener in many ways, and a good read, to boot.”
—The Associated Press
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005