About the Book

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, writer Douglas Brinkley was forced to evacuate his home along with scores of his fellow New Orleans residents. Now the New York Times best-selling author of The Boys of Pointe du Hoc and Tour of Duty tells the complete tale of the terrible storm.

Through detailed research and interviews with survivors, Brinkley investigates the failure of government at every level to manage this devastating tragedy. He also explains the political, social, and economic factors that led to the breakdown of the New Orleans levee system, particularly how the Mississippi Gulf Coast was never properly rebuilt after Hurricane Camille in 1969.

Douglas Brinkley is professor of history and director of the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Tulane University. Four of his books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. His last three historical narratives, Tour of Duty, The Boys of Pointe du Hoc and Parish Priest were all New York Times best-sellers. A contributing editor to Vanity Fair and American Heritage, he lives in New Orleans with his wife, Anne, and their two children, Benton and Johnny.

“... its thick detail provides a ground-level view of human behavior far richer than the breathless news reports that stunned and shamed the nation in the summer of 2005.”— New York Times Book Review

Critical Praise

“‘The Great Deluge,’ captures the human toll of Katrina as graphically as the most vivid newspaper and television accounts” — New York Times Book Review

“Doug Brinkley’s chronicle of Hurricane Katrina has a keen sense of history and context” — Graydon Carter

“[A] riveting story” — Cokie Roberts

“The first historical book that has researched the available record on Katrina and is the closest to actual fact.” — Gov. Kathleen Blanco

“More dispassionate and analytical books will be written about Katrina, few will capture the human drama as well as Brinkley’s.” — Financial Times

“An important, poignant and often-infuriating look at the tragedy.” — Denver Post

“Written with verve and energy, this is Brinkley’s best book to date.” — Times Picayune

“…likely to be the [account] against which other treatments of the subject will be judged.” — Washington Times

“An impassioned argument for sustained national interest in the aftermath of a catastrophe.” — The Advocate

“…likely to be the [account] against which other treatments of the subject will be judged.” — Daily Advertiser

“You can call “The Great Deluge” history, or you can call it journalism. But it’s good stuff” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“If you’ve grown numb to the horror of Katrina, this will wake you up. It’s a stirring and important book.” — The Arizona Republic

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Product Details

• ISBN: 9780061148491
• ISBN 10: 0061148490
• Imprint: Harper Perennial
• On Sale: 07/31/2007
• Trimsize: 6.000 in (w) x 9.000 in (h) x 1.600 in (d)
• Pages: 784
• List Price: $21.99
• BISAC1 : HISTORY / United States / 19th Century
• BISAC2 : HISTORY / United States / 21st Century
• BISAC3 : HISTORY / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
• BISAC4 : NATURE / Weather