Rising Tide

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America

By: John M. Barry

Narrated by: Barry Grizzard

An American epic of science, politics, race, honor, high society, and the Mississippi River, Rising Tide tells the riveting and nearly forgotten story of the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known, the Mississippi flood of 1927. The river inundated the homes of nearly one million people, helped elect Huey Long governor and made Herbert Hoover president, drove hundreds of thousands of blacks north, and transformed American society and politics forever.©1997 John M. Barry (P)1998 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division.

Critic reviews

"It is a gripping narrative...Rising Tide stands not only as a powerful story of disaster but as an accomplished and important social history, magisterial in its scope and fiercely dedicated to unearthing the truth." (The New York Times Book Review)

Disappointing so far

The topic is of great interest to me. But the author devotes too much space to developing a dramatic rivalry that isn’t that interesting and not enough to the science itself.

The reader is also working too hard on the drama.

The drama should come from what was known or not known about rivers, levees etc and what the consequences were in terms of success or failure.

Not one guy being a jerk.

My error in not securing this work as a full through read

The story (as with most historical stories of hubris) is compelling. A strong mix of entanglements involving politics, race, ego and science drew me close to the era. However, the narration by Barry Grizzard made the book fully come to life. Excellent.

a little dry, but good

probably the best way I can describe this book.. the writing and presentation are a little dry, but when the closing music started I honestly felt like "dang it, I'm ready to hear MORE from the regional/social/political/etc viewpoints!!"
very informative book, growing up in 80s 90s Louisiana, I'd heard something about Hoover, about "the great flood", about Percy.. but this gave a great review of that era and filled in a knowledge gap.
AND.. I was supposed to read this book for college.. never got past 1st chapter.. NOW its finally done.. 20+ years later, lol!!

Should be unabridged

Great book but the unabridged version in print is much better. Still worth it. Good.

I learned something new about Mississippi

I learned a little something about Mississippi through this book. I learned there were people that to some degree lived in racial harmony in a town called Greenville in Mississippi. I'm grateful for people like the Percy's who attempted to be human at least for a short while towards others regardless of race. This was a very good read.

Sad that this is abridged

Unfortunately this story was abridged. It would’ve been so much better had the whole book been read.

Staggering Numbers

I had never heard of the 1927 Mississippi flood so this was all new to me. I learned a lot about the areas involved. I didn’t realize this was an abridged audiobook when I got it, but that turned out to be a blessing since the Kindle (full length) was far too detailed for me. The audiobook worked better. The narrator did a fine job.

Great history

Lot of southern history explained in the wake of the 1927 flood.
Great read, highly recommended

Fascinating

Politics, history all types, family, social, science. Incredibly researched.
Wonderful read, highly recommended, great story well told, need I say more?

Good history. Bad narrative

The narrator ruins the story with a monotone of disdain for everything good and bad. The author includes details of race relations unrelated to the flood.