<p>Mann Gulch, Montana, 1949. Sixteen men ventured into hell to fight a raging wildfire; only three came out alive. Searing the fire into the nation&rsquo;s consciousness, Norman Maclean chronicled the Mann Gulch tragedy in his award-winning book <em>Young Men and Fire</em>. Still, the silence of the victims&rsquo; families robbed Maclean&rsquo;s account of an essential personal dimension. Shifting the focus from the fire to the men who fought it, Mark Matthews now provides that perspective.</p><p>Not until 1999&mdash;the fiftieth anniversary of the fire&mdash;did people begin to talk openly about Mann Gulch. Matthews has garnered those thoughts to reveal how devastating the fire was to the firefighters&rsquo; family members, coworkers, and friends. In retelling the story of Mann Gulch, he draws on the testimony of the three survivors&mdash;including never-before-published insights from the last living member of the team&mdash;and interviews with former smoke jumpers of that era. The result is a moment-by-moment, heart-stopping re-creation of events.</p><p>The Mann Gulch tragedy provoked the Forest Service to develop safety equipment and training programs, but fighting wildfires is still a perilous job.</p><p>Matthews&rsquo; stirring account renews our respect for one of nature&rsquo;s primal forces. A heartbreakingly human story, it still haunts a firefighting community&mdash;and keeps today&rsquo;s firefighters forever on guard.</p>