Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America

Abstract

At first glance, this history of twentieth-century American natural disasters appears little more than a rehash of a conclusion obvious to most environmental historians, that America's interaction with the natural world has contributed to the destructiveness of nature's fury. In fact, the author, Te d Steinberg, delves deeper into the question of man's complicity, with the result an intriguing study that harshly indicts economic and political interests in perpetuating a flawed approach to nature. As Americans have come to view hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes less as divine punishment for sins and more as the result of simple chaotic happenstance, they have de-moralized these calamities. They have removed man's culpability and placed them outside human control when, in fact, social and economic forces remain critical. This, Steinberg argues, allows the powers in society to restore the status quo, to justify economic choices that ensure not only future disasters but also the inequities of race and class. It is hardly a coincidence that the poor suffer the most. Steinberg's work is excellent environmental history, and no doubt the environmental justice movement will welcome it. It is, however, his combination of social, cultural, and political history that will interest readers beyond the narrow confines of one discipline.