Fire on the Prairie would be of interest to several audiences. It is an historical romance (19th-20th century transition) following the rise of A.T. Still from the hardship of a frontier life to founding a novel approach to medicine. His personal story as a zealot reformer starts by his learning commitment and energy from his circuit–riding preacher father and develops into a story of power and family dynastic succession. The era also spawned the rise of the corporate power and Still’s legacy in enmeshed in the intrigues of such developments.
If you have an interest in American history, in the Civil War and reconstruction era, the work will be of interest.
One in every fifteen physicians in America is a Doctor of Osteopathy, a DO. Few people know of the American revolution in medicine which started this other pathway in health care. If you have an interest in the beginning of osteopathic medicine, or are curious about this field, the book contains a wealth of information from little known sources of these events.
Fire on the Prairie breaks the stereotypic and simplistic understanding of Still and his times. It portrays the grim realities of settlement life and the abolitionist movement, as well as the Civil War, as they unfold on the plains. Reconstruction is a personal crisis for the hero as well as for the nation; he loses his family to disease and must start again. His personal struggle blends intellectual reflection and an existential crisis of faith, undefined by denominational lines. He is a freemason, participates in the Spiritualist movement, and delivers telepathically perceived truths about biology which are later verified by bioscience. These stimuli are integrated into practical approach to healing and health care. Fire on the Prairie attempts to portray all this within the warm relationships which emanated from this person. It is not a stale documentary.
Still himself is sensationally interesting. Mystical and bright, a farmer, soldier, legislator, sawyer, inventor, educator, physician, telepath, and a warm hearted kind man yet one who could stare a rattlesnake into submission.
The theme of Fire is used to:
1.characterize the rising of a leader
2.describe the ignition of Still’s inspired thought
3.portray the passion behind the practice and teaching of his concepts
4.chronicle the way his methods spread across the mid-west frontier (Prairie)
