John M. Barry

Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America

REVIEWS:

The Washington Post:
"Breathtaking... A big ambitious book that is not merely engrossing and informative but also had the potential to change the way we think."

The New York Times:
"Extraordinary... Rising Tide stands not only as a powerful story of disaster but as an accomplished and important social history, magisterial in its scope and fiercely dedicated to unearthing truth."

The New Yorker:
"This story of human defeat by a savage, unpredictable river has the power of an epic... A virtuoso piece of exposition."

The Chicago Tribune:
"A brilliant match of scholarship and investigative journalism."

The Los Angeles Times:
"An important contribution to history and literature... a rich deposit of passion and truth.

New Orleans Times-Picayune:
"Barry's brilliant new book is adroit at drawing his reader into complex political and scientific issues and rendering them with perfect clarity... After reading this book, you'll never look at the river the same way again."

Louisville Courier-Journal:
This is a book that I suspect will be recalled as one of the best books of the decade... To that hypothetical list of books that you intend to have when you are marooned on a desert island, please add Rising Tide."

Selected Works

Power Plays: Politics, Football, and Other Blood Sports
A look at power in all its incarnations, from the strength of a world champion caliber weightlifter to the power of the Washington press corps.
Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America
Winner of the 1998 Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians for the year's best book on American history.
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
Winner of the 2005 Keck Award from the National Academies of Science for the year's outstanding book on science or medicine.

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