The enormous fire that destroyed the city of Hinckley, MN and surrounding areas on Sep 1, 1894, has been written about by many. This book, "Eld-Cyklonen or Hinckley Fire" was written in 1894, soon after the fire. The book was originally written in Swedish by Gudmund Emanuel Akermark (though his name did not appear on the manuscript; research had to be done at the Library of Congress to determine the author.)

William Johnson received by mail an unsolicited loan of the book in 1973. He was able to read Swedish, and determined that it might be appreciated if someone would translate the book into English -- so he did. It was copyrighted and printed by the Hinckley Fire Museum.

Because this book was written so close in time to the actual event, there are many unique features to the book. First, it depends on first-hand stories of eyewitnesses not long from the fire. Second, it is limited to theories about the fire that existed at the time (more recent books reflect the improved science & understanding of events.) Third, it is written in a far more flowery manner as was common then. This book contains some bits of information that are missing from other manuscripts, including an entire chapter on quirks of fate concerning how the fire burned (or didn't).

I certainly recommend that anyone interested in the Hinckely fire read this book, but balance it with other books such as "Under a Flaming Sky" (copyright 2006). ( )