Cynthia A. Kierner is the author of many books, including Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood.

Matthew Mulcahy has written or cowritten several books and articles about natural disasters in colonial British America, including Hurricanes and Society in the British Greater Caribbean, 1624–1783.

Liz Skilton is the author of Tempest: Hurricane Naming and American Culture and head of the Recent Louisiana Disasters Oral History Project.

Praise for Rethinking American Disasters

“Examining the role of disasters in American history from the colonial period to the present, these well-conceived essays offer unique perspectives on a whole range of calamities. Above all, the authors provide a wise and sobering reminder that history often unfolds in unexpected ways.”—Ted Steinberg, author of Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America

“This altogether superior collection of essays presents novel, wide-ranging and accessible analyses of particular disasters that vividly illustrate what a good lens disasters provide for illuminating some of the grand themes on American history.”—Gareth Davies

“Fire, flood, drought, epidemic, and the rising of our oceans: the early twenty-first century is beset. This excellent collection meets the anxieties of the present with insights from our plagued past, showing how societal choices can deepen disasters or alleviate suffering. Essays span Caribbean and U.S. history, from colonial hurricanes to COVID-19, offering case studies that are as well-researched as they are timely. Classes will find this book useful. So too will disaster planners working to mitigate current calamities both fast and slow.”—Conevery Bolton Valencius, author of The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes

• Book Cover Image
• Book Announcement