Since the earliest years of city history, New York"s firefighters have put their lives on the line to protect its citizens from fire. Written by experts on Fire Department history, this book documents the evolution of city firefighting from the earliest bucket brigades through to the post 911 Department, largely through the collection of the Museum. Along the way, it documents the organizational improvements and political changes that have made city firefighting significantly more effective. This book tells the tale of the greatest fires that threatened New York, including the Great Fire of 1835 and the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. It includes the attack on the World Trade Center and looks beyond from the perspective of the months following the first anniversary of that traumatic day when hundreds of New York"s Bravest tragically lost their lives. - Illustrated throughout by full-color photographs of fire fighting equipment, memorabilia and notable fires, mostly taken from the remarkable collection of the NYC Fire Museum and generously supplemented with unique additional material from private collections as well as from the FDNY Photo Unit.