Sam Russell

In a world full of communication breakdowns - where nation fights against nation, neighbor fights against neighbor and so many are misunderstood - there is much to be learned from the communication challenges inherent in a fire station where egos run rampant. In no other context is it as urgent that communication work well than in firefighting. And there’s no better observer and expert on those lessons than Allan London, a firefighter with more than three decades of experience making communication decisions that save lives.

The true story behind the events that inspired the major motion picture Only the Brave. A "unique and bracing" (Booklist) first-person account by the sole survivor of Arizona's disastrous 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, which took the lives of 19 "hotshots" - firefighters trained specifically to battle wildfires. Brendan McDonough was on the verge of becoming a hopeless, inveterate heroin addict when he, for the sake of his young daughter, decided to turn his life around. He enlisted in the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a team of elite firefighters based in Prescott, Arizona.