In the fall of 1918, devastating forest fires swept across a major portion of northeastern Minnesota. Drawing on both published survivors' accounts and on trial testimony never publicized, the authors bring to light this saga of destruction, resurrection, and resilience in the face of adversity.

The origins of the fires and the dramatic stories of the fire sufferers and their survival are featured in the early chapters. Subsequent chapters deal with relief operations and the controversial legal battles that followed among the victims, the U.S. Railroad Administration, and the U.S. Congress as the survivors struggled to obtain compensation for their losses.