Ocean of Fire: The Burning of Columbia, 1865

Reviewed by: Kristin Taylor - Biddeford High School, Biddeford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 11, 2015

Review

Based on one of the more controversial events of the Civil War, the fires that almost wiped out the City of Columbia were never pinned to an exact cause. Mostly written from the viewpoint and diaries of seventeen-year-old Emma LeConte, the author describes the violent and terrifying chaos that erupted when Columbia was burning. The fear and desperation that is felt by Emma and those that surrounded her, is well depicted.

This book is the second one written in the new series called the "Horrors of History" with the first being "City of the Dead" about the hurricane that devastated Galveston in the 1900s. T. Neill Anderson (author) is an American history buff and researcher with a knack for regaling the horrors of our nation's past in this new historical fiction series that many will find interesting and exciting. His writing style is geared for more middle school, but anyone who enjoys history and the horrors that go with it will enjoy this series.

This book would compliment any unit on the Civil War with diaries, journals and personal accounts that were found in researching the subject. The illustrations are well place within the story with excellent descriptive captions. Many of the illustrations are maps of where it was thought that the fires started and the directions they spread from eye-witness accounts; photos taken after the devastating fire and some are from articles in newspapers and magazines written in the aftermath. But the strangest of all, no one person or group has ever admitted to setting the fire or accepted the responsibilities -- was it the North or the South?

Overall Book Score: very good