2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE

ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'S TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2025

NAMED A BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS

"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

A gripping firsthand account of a record-setting fire season, from a cultural anthropologist who spent a year working as a hotshot firefighter, exploring the history and future of fire in America

Eighteen of California's largest wildfires on record have burned in the past two decades. Scientists recently invented the term "megafire" to describe wildfires that behave in ways that would have been nearly impossible just a generation ago, burning through winter, exploding in the night, and devastating landscapes historically impervious to incendiary destruction.

In When It All Burns, wildland firefighter and anthropologist Jordan 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.

Thomas weaves ecology and the history of Indigenous peoples' oppression, federal forestry, and the growth of the fire industrial complex into a riveting narrative about a new phase in the climate crisis. It's an immersive story of community in the most perilous of circumstances, told with humor, humility, and affection.

• We started tracking this book on May 29, 2025.
• This book was $15.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 4 times in the past 291 days.
• The current price of this book is $13.99 last checked 4 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past 90 days.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past six months is $6.99.
• The lowest price to date was $6.99 last reached on June 17, 2025.
• This book has been $6.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $15.99 last reached on June 25, 2025.
• This book has been $15.99 2 times since we started tracking it.

• Biographies & MemoirsProfessionals & AcademicsFire & Emergency Services

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
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• Print Length: 361 Pages
• File Size: 35 KB