Well documented history. Should be required reading for all Army Corps of Engineers personnel and all politicans. Fascinating! ( )

3045 Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, by John M. Barry (read 16 Jan 1998) This is the story of the 1927 Mississippi flood, and I found it quite a good story. The author does not tell a "smooth story" and it jumps around a lot, but it tells quite a story. Central to the book is LeRoy Percy, who was a U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1910 to 1913. He was from Greenville, Miss,. and a power in Miss. till he died in 1929. Greenville is at the center of the story of the
Flood. Till I read this book I had not realized that the Flood was what made Hoover a shoo-in for the GOP nomination in 1928--he directed the fight against the Flood, which was humdinger of a flood. ( )

In the aftermath of Katrina many people are looking for answers and Rising Tide may provide clues of where to look (power politics, forces of nature, and bad engineering for starters). But Rising Tide tells a fascinating story well-worth reading on its own merits.

John Barry's story tells two different tales. One is the futile battle of man versus the mighty Mississippi River. The river is freakishly powerful, seemingly a living thing with an intent to go where it pleases. Great engineering feats were required even to attempt to cage the river, but at the same time there was great debate whether it was possible or advisable to do so. In the end, the river shows itself to be a virtually irresistible force of nature. The book raise real questions as to whether controlling the river is feasible today. The discussion of the civil engineering side of 'flood control' is quite interesting.

The other side of the story is the human tale of the powerful against the common folks. Part of the telling focuses on Greenville, Mississippi in the heart of the Delta where patrician whites ultimately forsake any pretense of humanity toward the black majority as the levee is breached. In New Orleans, the city bosses plot to save the city at any cost - any cost to people living elsewhere that is.

Herbert Hoover somehow rides his rather ineffective role in recovery into a trip to the White House. The flood also propelled Huey Long to the governorship of Louisiana (a subject the book unfortunately barely mentions).

If you have an interest in race relations, disaster stories, power politics, the South, or civil engineering you will enjoy this book. A great read. ( )

Covers politics, race, science, and sociology. Gives a broad view of a historical event using a lyrical journalistic style of writing that transforms a history text into a page turner. Highly recommended.


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This was a fascinating read and an excellent example of how one event can have long-lasting ramifications that touch geography, politics, race relations, economics, etc. It was a great snapshot of the racial and social attitudes of the day ... and leaves you wondering about the extent to which they may be different today. It also showed how a disagreement between experts/scientists (contain-the-river vs. let-the-river-branch-out) can have a real impact on an entire country. ( )