Katrina: The Ruin and Recovery of New Orleans [Hardcover]

The Times-Picayune (Creator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Spotlight Press (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596701846
• ISBN-13: 978-1596701847
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 11.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,043,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Katrina Survivor Reviews This Superior Book, October 2, 2006

By 

Mark R. Garner (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Katrina: The Ruin and Recovery of New Orleans (Hardcover)

I rode out Hurricane Katrina in Metairie, LA. If you don't live in the Gulf South, the scope of the amazing photographs in this book will leave you breathless and thanking God you live elsewhere.

We all are aware that Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster in U.S. history (actually the "disaster" wasn't entirely natural at all but this isn't the forum for discussing the criminal ineptitude of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). These photos put a human face on the true nature of this disaster. This isn't a book for the faint of heart.

Culled from the hundreds of photos from New Orleans' Times-Picayune newspaper, these are images which will forever document how a major metropolitan city can be destroyed in a few hours. I have to believe there are some Pulitzers lurking in the future for some of these photographers.

It will be quite obvious to even the casual reader that the men and women who took these photos were definitely in harm's way. Were they brave or were they crazy? Who knows. The fact of the matter is that they have captured some of the most compelling images in American history since the days of Bob Capa at the Normandy beachhead.

The book is a large "coffee table" sized edition and features maps and other graphics showing flooding levels, locations of the breaches and other related data to give the reader a better sense of perspective.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Katrina documented upclose and personal, February 6, 2007

By 

A. Lamy (St Germain en Laye, France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Katrina: The Ruin and Recovery of New Orleans (Hardcover)

I lived in New Orleans in the 1970's and have visited friends and family there every year for over 25 years, going back, and relishing the laidback, intemporal feeling of the city and its culture rich in European and African roots. Seeing the devastation, kin to war-time destruction, in December of 2006, I had to bring back to my current residence a reminder of the havoc that a bad storm and poor prevention and poor crisis management wrecked upon the city that Time and Care forgot.

An excellent document with a few visual reminders that there is perhaps hope to prevent another flood situation so severe.

Hats off to The Times Picayune for showing human suffering and loss without stripping people of their dignity, not abusing and becoming sensationalist for the sole sake of selling, but to remind those who are listening that to lose forever New Orleans eccentric mix of aesthetics and personality due to a mix of indigenous peoples and cultures would be tantamount to Europe losing Venice.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, August 25, 2007

By 

Kathleen D. Almond "photobug" (new london, NH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Katrina: The Ruin and Recovery of New Orleans (Hardcover)

We were recently in New Orleans to help in the restoration of the area. During our "free" time we frequented a wonderful bookstore in the city. The owner of the store highly recommended this book. She said it was the most comprehensive of all the books written on Katrina. We thoroughly agree!