The Dreadful Judgement Book

A fire needs only three things: a spark to ignite it, and fuel and oxygen to feed it. In September 1666, a ten-month drought had turned London into a tinderbox. The older parts of the city were almost entirely composed of wood-frame buildings and shacks made of little more than paper. The riverside warehouses were stacked with wood and coal. The fuel was already in place. A fierce gale provided the oxygen. All that was now needed was a spark. On September 2, the capital ignited. For four days the wind blew, and the Great Fire of London destroyed the city.

Working with modern forensic insights into the physics of fire, as well as moving eye-witness accounts discovered in private papers, Neil Hanson brings to life a historical detective story — and a searing depiction of one of the least understood events of British history.