irehouse is a book that will move readers as few others have in our time. Through the kind of intimate portraits that are Halberstam's trademark, we watch a typical day in a firehouse unfold-the men called to duty, while their families wait anxiously for news of them. In addition, we come to understand the culture of the firehouse itself; why gifted men do this and why in so many instances they are eager to follow in their father's footsteps and serve in so dangerous a profession-why, more than anything else, it is not just a job, but a calling as well. This is journalism-as-history at its best, the story of what happens when one small institution gets caught in an apocalyptic day.