The book, Young Men And Fire: A True Story Of The Mann Gulch Fire tells the tragic story of how 12 of 15 elite smokejumpers who parachuted into the Mann Gulch Fire in Montana on August 5, 1949 died from a deadly explosion of flame and wind within two hours of their decent in the burning forest.  “Young Men And Fire: A True Story Of The Mann Gulch Fire” fills in the details of exactly what happened on August 5, 1949 through the words of witnesses, the evidence of history and the research of fire scientists.  For years after this devastating loss of life, families of the victims felt that the foreman of the smokejumpers, R. Wagner Dodge, was somehow to blame for the deaths of his fellow 12 smokejumpers.  In truth, the foreman’s survival had more to do with his greater experience fighting large forest fires and to some degree, luck. Most of the foreman’s fellow smokejumpers on the other hand were less experience and when faced with the explosion of flame and wind became confused and attempt to outrun the approaching firestorm.  The author of this book spent a total of fourteen years researching the events surrounding this tragic day in firefighting history.  As part of this research, the author returned to the scene of this devastating forest fire with two of the three survivors in order to better understand the events leading up to the fire, as well as, what actually happened shortly after the smokejumpers parachuted into the burning forest and why many of the victims families blamed the fire crew’s foreman.  “Young Men And Fire: A True Story Of The Mann Gulch Fire”, coming decades after this tragic event, at last gathers the scattered pieces of the Mann gulch tragedy and assembles them in a compelling story.  The major sections of “Young Men And Fire: A True Story Of The Mann Gulch Fire” are as follows: 1) Publisher’s Note; 2) Black Ghost and 3) Young Men And Fire including (Parts 1, 2, & 3).  In addition to an informative narrative, “Young Men And Fire: A True Story Of The Mann Gulch Fire” includes the following features: 1) Approximately 11 black and white photographs and 2) 1 map of the Mann Gulch fire area.  This book is 301 pages and is in excellent condition.  The author is Norman Maclean.  Edition published in 1992.