The book is also written in a way that it could be split in half and both halves would be perfectly satisfactory books. The first half of the book deals intimately with Pinchot's public and private life while the second half hardly mentions him at all. The first half in its entirety hardly mentions any flames until the very end of the first section saying, "Smoke started to fill the woods." 1The book begins with a more historical account of Roosevelt and Pinchot, while the end is more of a drama, filled with commotion and turmoil. The structure is a little disordered and untidy but Egan really reconciles this with his use of details. Egan must be applauded for the amount of detail he incorporated in his book. .
In chapter six, Egan easily could have said a few small fires near Wallace occurred but rather says, "a string of fires not far from Wallace, a row of nasty flames, small but intense, whipped up by the big electrical storm of July 26." 2 Egan describes in such depth the flames that ravaged through Idaho, Montana, and Washington and how many people were dislocated because of it. Not only is the historical natural tragedy studied but the real-life stories of common citizens is discussed. These very personal stories bring an intimate feeling to the whole experience. The chapters that follow the flames contain such detail and emotion it is extremely evident how much Egan knows about his subject, and he sincerely wants this story to be told. Egan uses a number of different sources to express his details. Many of the stories involving Roosevelt and Pinchot come directly from diary entries and letters written by Pinchot himself, as well as his book, Breaking New Ground, which was used many times as support. Much of Egan's evidence comes from other historical writings including many Roosevelt biographies, historical writings of the land of the Northwest, and histories of the United States Forest Service.
