Customer Reviews

Dams and Other Disasters: A Century of the Army Corps of Engineers in Civil Works

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The title is compelling enough although the book does not quite live up to it. No expose of the Corps can ever be really complete without reference to the monetary waste and resource degradation that are the bread and butter of the Corps. To his credit, the author made it clear from the outset that his aim was to focus on other subjects, such as the Corps' traditional cliquishness and institutional vanity. In these respects, the book provides some interesting information that probably cannot be found in other books. All in all, this is a "meaty" read and still surprisingly relevant after thirty-or-so years. Keep in mind that the author was about ninety years old when he wrote this book but it is very cogent and well-written.

As one who knew Arthur Morgan I saw no signs of declining mental powers before his death. He writes as he spoke, economically and with little humor. But any survey of his stupendous works reveals a giant among men who inspired the support of other giants from John Patterson of NCR to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Sen. Paul Douglas, later Supreme Court Justice. Surely his thorough systematic approach to every challenge, many described in this book, would have served us well if the Corps of Engineers had employed it in New Orleans and elsewhere.