Black fire
Subtitle: the true story of the original Tom Sawyer--and of the mysterious fires that baptized Gold Rush-era San Francisco
By: written and illustrated by Robert Graysmith
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Crown
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 268
ISBN-13: 9780307720566; 9780307720580
Subjects: Friends and associates; Arson; Adventure and adventurers; Sources; Fires; Tom Sawyer (Fictitious character); Fire fighters; Biography; History
Description: First biography of the little-known real-life Tom Sawyer (a friend of Mark Twain during his brief tenure as a California newspaper reporter), told through a harrowing account of Sawyer's involvement in the hunt for a serial arsonist who terrorized mid-nineteenth century San Francisco.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Dramatis Personae; title: Prologue; title: pt. 1. The man who burned down San Francisco : December 24, 1849-September 16, 1850; title: Broderick and the Christmas Eve Catastrophe; title: Sawyer; title: Sleep Runners and Flying Houses; title: Broderick's Rogues; title: Rainbow Rivers of Gold and Silver; title: pt. 2. The lightkeeper : September 17, 1850-June 22, 1851; title: Tug of War; title: The Melting House; title: The Lodger; title: The Golden Ring; title: pt. 3. Steaming with Twain and Sawyer : May 26, 1863-December 16, 1866; title: Steamers; title: The Fire Girl; title: Let Us Build a City.