The Great River - The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi

Over thousands of years, the Mississippi watershed was home to millions of indigenous people who regarded "the great river" with awe and respect, adorning its banks with astonishing spiritual earthworks. But European settlers and American pioneers had a different vision: the river was a foe to conquer. In this landmark work of natural history, Boyce Upholt tells the epic story of human attempts to own and contain the Mississippi River, from Thomas Jefferson's expansionist land hunger through today's era of environmental concern. He reveals how an ambitious and sometimes contentious program of engineering-government-built levees, jetties, dikes and dams-has not only damaged once-vibrant ecosystems, but may not work much longer, and explores how scientists are scrambling to restore what's been lost. Rich and powerful, The Great River delivers a startling account of what happens when we try to fight against nature instead of acknowledging and embracing its power.

About the author

Boyce Upholt is a journalist and essayist whose writing has appeared in the Atlantic, National Geographic, the Oxford American, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other publications. He is the winner of a James Beard Award for investigative journalism, and he lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Summary

A sweeping history of the Mississippi River—and the centuries of human meddling that have transformed both it and America

Product details

• Authors: Boyce Upholt
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 29.07.2024
• EAN: 9780393867879
• ISBN: 978-0-393-86787-9
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 236 mm x 30 mm
• Weight: 536 g
• Illustrations: 20 illustrations; 3 maps
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Nature, technology > Nature: general, reference works; SCIENCE / Earth Sciences / Geography, North America, NATURE / Ecosystems & Habitats / Rivers, NATURE / Ecosystems & Habitats / Lakes, Ponds & Swamps, Physical geography & topography, Rivers and lakes, The Earth: Natural History General, The Earth: natural history: general interest, Limnology (Freshwater), Mississippi-Missouri river and tributaries