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When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World

A Survival of the Readiest Program

Come on an unforgettable journey to the fire line. See what happens when it all burns, understand why it all burns, and learn how we must reimagine our relationship with fire in California.

Most of us have only seen California wildfires from a distance—smoke in the air or a red glow on the horizon. But in this powerful event, wildland firefighter and author Jordan Thomas takes us to the front lines through stunning photographs and firsthand stories from battling California’s most destructive fires. In When It All Burns, Thomas recounts a single, brutal six-month fire season with the Los Padres Hotshots—the special forces of America’s firefighters. Being a hotshot is among the most difficult jobs on earth. Thomas viscerally renders his crew’s attempts to battle flames that are often too destructive to contain. He uncovers the hidden cultural history of megafires, revealing how humanity’s symbiotic relationship with wildfire became a war—and what can be done to change it back.

Exceptional. . . . When It All Burns is one of those books that immerses the reader in the nuances of a world most of us know only through the lens of tragedy and destruction. Thomas’ visceral, crystalline prose only adds fuel to the fire.” —Los Angeles Times

"Passionately told, impeccably researched and important. . . . while Thomas’s detailed descriptions of grueling brush-hacking sessions and near-constant life-threatening scenarios are riveting, the book’s power comes from its methodical, clear-eyed and convincing explanation of how we wound up here in the first place—in a world where megafires inevitably rage out of control, annihilating every town and ecosystem in their path." —Washington Post

“A riveting story of the costs of climate change and the realities of this terrifying work, as well as an examination of the history that got us here and the very real lives now at risk.” —New York Times

“Wedding anthropological research and elegant descriptions of the natural world, Thomas builds an argument for a clear solution." —The New Yorker

“Thomas brings us to the front lines, deftly pulling the reader to the edge of the fire in evocative writing that reads like a thriller… Thinking about fire has never been more essential—Thomas charts a map toward the future.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“Writing with exceptional verve, Thomas captures the furious intensity of working on the fire line. . . . Narrative nonfiction doesn’t get better than this.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Copies of When It All Burns will be available for purchase at this event, and the author will sign.

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