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Scott W. Berg

Biography

Scott W. Berg

Born and raised in the Twin Cities, Scott W. Berg holds a BA in architecture from the University of Minnesota, an MA from Miami University of Ohio, and an MFA in creative writing from George Mason University, where he now teaches writing and literature. He is the author of GRAND AVENUES: The Story of Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C.; 38 NOOSES: Lincoln, Little Crow, and the Beginning of the Frontier’s End; and THE BURNING OF THE WORLD: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City's Soul.

Scott W. Berg

Books by Scott W. Berg

by Scott W. Berg - History, Nonfiction

In October 1871, Chicagoans knew they were due for the “big one” --- a massive, uncontrollable fire that would decimate the city. There hadn’t been a meaningful rain since July, and several big blazes had nearly outstripped the fire department’s scant resources. On October 8th, when Kate Leary’s barn caught fire, so began a catastrophe that would forever change the soul of the city. The conflagration that spread from her property quickly overtook the neighborhood, and before too long the floating embers had spread to the far reaches of the city. Families took to the streets with everything they could carry. Over the course of the next 48 hours, Chicago saw the biggest and most destructive disaster the United States had ever endured, and Leary would be its scapegoat.

by Scott W. Berg - History, Nonfiction

Scott W. Berg has written an account of the little-known Dakota War of 1862, when Dakota Indian warriors attacked white soldiers and settlers on the Minnesota Frontier. Federal forces quashed the uprising and found 300 Indians guilty of murder, resulting in the largest government-sanctioned execution in US history.