Mississippi River Tragedies

Mississippi River Tragedies
Author: Christine A Klein
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2017-08-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1479856169


Download Mississippi River Tragedies Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Read a free excerpt here! American engineers have done astounding things to bend the Mississippi River to their will: forcing one of its tributaries to flow uphill, transforming over a thousand miles of roiling currents into a placid staircase of water, and wresting the lower half of the river apart from its floodplain. American law has aided and abetted these feats. But despite our best efforts, so-called “natural disasters” continue to strike the Mississippi basin, as raging floodwaters decimate waterfront communities and abandoned towns literally crumble into the Gulf of Mexico. In some places, only the tombstones remain, leaning at odd angles as the underlying soil erodes away. Mississippi River Tragedies reveals that it is seductively deceptive—but horribly misleading—to call such catastrophes “natural.” Authors Christine A. Klein and Sandra B. Zellmer present a sympathetic account of the human dreams, pride, and foibles that got us to this point, weaving together engaging historical narratives and accessible law stories drawn from actual courtroom dramas. The authors deftly uncover the larger story of how the law reflects and even amplifies our ambivalent attitude toward nature—simultaneously revering wild rivers and places for what they are, while working feverishly to change them into something else. Despite their sobering revelations, the authors’ final message is one of hope. Although the acknowledgement of human responsibility for unnatural disasters can lead to blame, guilt, and liability, it can also prod us to confront the consequences of our actions, leading to a liberating sense of possibility and to the knowledge necessary to avoid future disasters.


Mississippi River Tragedies
Language: en
Pages: 280
Authors: Christine A Klein
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-08-01 - Publisher: NYU Press

GET EBOOK

Read a free excerpt here! American engineers have done astounding things to bend the Mississippi River to their will: forcing one of its tributaries to flow uph
Eight Great Tragedies
Language: en
Pages: 465
Authors: Sylvan Barnet
Categories: Drama
Type: BOOK - Published: 1996-11-01 - Publisher: Penguin

GET EBOOK

Presenting the complete texts of eight of the world’s greatest plays, this important volume illuminates the changing concept of tragedy from Sophocles to O’
Six Tragedies
Language: en
Pages: 277
Authors: Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Categories: Drama
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010-01-14 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

GET EBOOK

This is a lively, readable and accurate verse translation of the six best plays by one of the most influential of all classical Latin writers. The volume includ
The Theater of War
Language: en
Pages: 306
Authors: Bryan Doerries
Categories: Health & Fitness
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016-08-23 - Publisher: Vintage

GET EBOOK

For years theater director Bryan Doerries has been producing ancient Greek tragedies for a wide range of at-risk people in society. His is the personal and deep
The Tragedies of Seneca
Language: en
Pages: 484
Authors: Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Categories: Latin drama (Tragedy)
Type: BOOK - Published: 1904 - Publisher:

GET EBOOK