As profoundly disturbing as the events in New Orleans during the late summer of 2005 were, this was not the first time a major American city has had to rebuild itself. A new book by one of Irish America's most interesting writers reminds us of the devastation - and political fallout - of the horrific San Francisco earthquake of 1906. "San Francisco Is Burning: The Untold Story of the 1906 Earthquake and Fires" by Dennis Smith may sound awfully familiar to people who watched the tragedy unfold in New Orleans. Well over 500 blocks and 28,000 buildings were destroyed, and 200,000 people needed to find new homes. Smith, whose mother was an Irish immigrant, is a former New York City firefighter whose other books include Report from Engine Company 82 and the more recent Report from Ground Zero. In "San Francisco Is Burning," Smith painstakingly dissects the aftermath of the San Francisco conflagration. One can't help but think that another, similarly-informative expert will be doing the same for New Orleans down the road. ($25.95 / 294 pages / Viking)