Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (July 20, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0195309685
ISBN-13: 978-0195309683

From Booklist
Steinberg has an unabashedly political agenda in this work, but that does not interfere with him making a powerful point concerning the economics of disaster preparation and recovery. He examines how many of America's worst natural disasters were made more devastating through economic decision making. Most of the time these decisions protect the wealthy and commercial interests while leaving the poor and minorities vulnerable. He shows how newspapers and even scientific publications after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake played up the fire to convince businesses interested in moving into the area that it wasn't earthquake prone. He points to how dikes that were constructed to protect towns like Hannibal, Missouri, were made more "cost effective" by being placed where they could prevent damage to landmarks, while leaving the poor and black sections of the town to the mercy of flood waters. This is an insightful work that raises serious questions about who really directs our philosophy of disaster preparedness. Eric Robbins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"A sobering lesson in humanity's vulnerability to extreme climatic events, especially the impoverished farmer and the urban poor."--The Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Steinberg has an unabashedly political agenda in this work, but that does not interfere with him making a powerful point concerning the economics of disaster preparation and recovery...This is an insightful work that raises serious questions about who really directs our philosophy of disaster preparedness."--Booklist

"Powerfully argued and forcefully written.... Good old-fashioned, hard-headed scholarship, which confirms that some of the most savage critics of capitalism in US academia today are environmental historians."--The Times Literary Supplement

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