Lübken, Uwe. Die Natur der Gefahr: Überschwemmungen am Ohio River im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Umwelt und Gesselschaft, edited by Christof Mauch, Helmuth Trischler, and Frank Uekötter, vol. 8. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co, 2014.
Scarcely any other river in the United States has been the scene of such dramatic interaction between nature and society as the Ohio River. The river, an important channel for communication and transportation, was crucial for the rapid development of the Ohio Valley in the nineteenth century. Trade centers and industrial metropolises such as Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Cincinnati sprang up along its banks. However, frequent floods challenged this apparently harmonious relationship between nature and society. Lübken traces the history of the flood regions from the late eighteenth century through to the twentieth century. He shows how the vulnerability and resilience of the local communities has changed over the course of generations, and how specific flood disasters have been dealt with socially, economically, and culturally. (Text adapted from Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht and the Rachel Carson Center)
Read an excerpt here.