He published his account of the fire in 1874. The late William Converse Haygood served as editor of the Wisconsin Magazine of History from 1957 to 1975. He prepared this version of Father Pernin's account on the occasion of the Peshtigo Fire's centennial in 1971. Foreword writer Stephen J. Pyne is a professor at Arizona State University in Tempe and author of numerous books on wildland fire, including Fire in America.

    The author takes full account of the influence of strategic considerations, of imperialistic pressure, and of literary movements as expressed in nationalist and racial doctrines, He pays particular attention throughout to the movements of public opinion, and assesses the importance of this elusive power in the formulation of foreign policy.Professor Langer has been able to deal with his great subject in something approaching a definitive manner. He has made full use of the various collections of documentary material, including the recently published French documents, as well as the innumerable secondary studies and the monographic researches of English, French, German, Italian, and Russian scholars. Our knowledge of this whole period has been revolutionized by the publications of the last decade, which have rendered most of the older books practically worthless. The bibliographical notes, appended to the various chapters, taken together, form the only comprehensive critical survey of the literature of the subject available in any language.All in all, this is a contribution of the first importance and one of which American scholarship may well be proud.