“It’s hard to imagine a more thoroughly researched history of the Paris, France, flood of 1910. With the national debate roaring on whether post-Katrina New Orleans should be rebuilt, Paris Under Water offers the definitive answer of yes. A truly first-rate book.”--Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge “Before New Orleans, there was Paris. The Great Paris Flood of 1910, which paralyzed the world’s most modern city and caused over a billion euros (by today’s standards) worth of damage, provides a fascinating study of physical and social devastation and human survival. Modernization itself contributed to Paris’s destruction. But, as Jackson concludes, in the end Paris survived the flood because it was a functioning human community, not because it was a modern metropolis. Any student of history or lover of Paris will want to read this book.”--Sarah Smith, author of The Knowledge of Water
“Set against the backdrop of the world’s most beautiful city, the Seine itself is at the center of the story from its role in making Paris a modern city to the day in 1910 when Parisians stood on its banks and watched it climb several feet a day, carrying debris from flooded towns in the countryside. Through Jackson’s deft storytelling and first-hand accounts, we see the terror of watching a disaster slowly, methodically drown a city and a community’s fight to survive it.”--Molly Caldwell Crosby, author of An American Plague
“Jeffrey Jackson’s meticulous account of the great Paris flood is harrowing history told in gripping detail but also a stark warning as waters rise everywhere.”--Mort Rosenblum, author of Secret Life of the Seine and Chocolate
“[A] riveting account of a natural catastrophe that struck Paris in 1910. Going far beyond the boundaries of environmental or urban history, it draws on an exceptionally wide array of sources to offer the reader a meticulous, yet rich and personal, reconstruction of what the great flood felt like to contemporaries, what it revealed about social tensions and solidarities, and what it signified on a broader historical scale. Jackson has succeeded masterfully in telling a fascinating story in a way that any reader will find utterly irresistible, while applying insightful and erudite scholarly analysis in a way that sheds light on a great city’s social, economic, and cultural life. A tour de force of scholarship and brilliantly creative craftsmanship.”--Michael D. Bess, author of Choices Under Fire
“Fascinating work, important story, beautifully told. Jackson tells us about a little-known flood of a well-known city, Paris. He weaves seamlessly together the political and cultural significance of the flood, all while engaging the reader with stories about what the flood meant for everyday life. A fine achievement.”--Lee Clarke, author of Worst Cases
“[Jackson’s] gripping account of the 1910 flood recounts the highs and the lows of what happened when water “shorted out” the city of light. [It] will open the door to reconsiderations of the interaction of technology and the environment in ways that are vitally relevant today.”--Vanessa R. Schwartz, author of It’s So French
