Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean is a haunting, masterful account of the 1949 Mann Gulch wildfire tragedy — the deadly blaze that claimed the lives of thirteen young smokejumpers in Montana’s Gates of the Mountains wilderness. Maclean (author of A River Runs Through It) was drawn to the story both as a writer and as a former Forest Service man himself. What began as an investigation into how a routine jump went so catastrophically wrong became something far deeper: a forensic reconstruction of the fire’s behavior, the final desperate race up the ridge, and the split-second decisions that separated the living from the dead. With meticulous research, survivor interviews, and his own lyrical yet unflinching prose, Maclean pieces together the last minutes of those who perished and explores the larger questions of courage, fear, youth, and the unpredictable fury of wildfire. This is not just a disaster narrative. It is part detective story, part meditation on mortality, and part elegy for a generation of young men who ran toward danger for a living. Maclean’s writing is spare, powerful, and deeply human — the kind that stays with you long after the final page. This copy is close to new. The sleeve is still vibrant and all aspects of the book itself are in fine condition. A modern classic of American nonfiction and essential reading for every serious student of fire, wilderness, and the men who meet it head-on.