Douibleday, 2001. Hardback with Dust Wrapper. Book Condition: Very Good, some slight tanning to top edge, otherwise Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine, minimal signs of shelf wear. First Edition, First Printing, the book appears unread. (xxi), 378pp including notes, bibliography and comprehensive index. Very readable. With colour plates, and black-and-white illustrations in the text. Panorama of London and Westminster by Hollar on endpapers. Fire only needs 3 things: sufficient fuel, a spark to ignite it, and oxygen to feed it. The fuel was already in place: A 10 month drought had turned the wood-framed buildings and shanties of London into a tinder box. A fierce gale provided the oxygen. On 2 Sep. 1666, London ignited. The fire raged for 4 days. Neil Hanson's The Dreadful Judgement: The True Story of the Fire of London is an absorbing history of the fire that destroyed London in four terrible days in September 1666. Hanson argues that the "Great Fire of London is one of those cataclysmic events that has burned its way into the consciousness of mankind", but that as an event it "remains misunderstood and many of the most intriguing questions remain unanswered". The best part of the book is its meticulous recreation of the dramatic spread of the fire, with its flames "reaching into each street, lane, narrow alley or suffocating passageway, seeking always another hold, another way of advancement, fastening on to the least scrap of timber, dust or rags". "Popular narrative history at its best, well researched, imaginatively and dramatically written." -- Times Literary Supplement, September 7, 2001 "The brilliance of its narrative ... marvellous eye for evocative detail... the equivalent of the special effects in a disaster movie." -- Daily Telegraph, September 2, 2001 Hanson has a marvellous eye for evocative detail. He creates the literary equivalent of the special effects in a disaster movie? -- Thomas Wright, Daily Telegraph, 1 September 2001 Hanson writes with knowledge and verve?. An informative and lively account? -- Jenny Uglow, Sunday Times, 2 September 2001
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