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Hurricanes have been a constant in the history of New Orleans. Since before its settlement as a French colony in the eighteenth century, the land entwined between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River has been lashed by powerful Gulf storms. Time and again, these hurricanes have wrought immeasurable loss and devastation, spurring reinvention and ingenuity on the part of inhabitants. Changes in the Air offers a rich and thoroughly researched history of how hurricanes have shaped and reshaped New Orleans from the colonial era to the present day, focusing on how its residents have adapted to a uniquely unpredictable and destructive environment across more than three centuries.
“As New Orleans celebrates its tricentennial, this book would be a great read for the history enthusiast, or anyone wanting to better understand the social, political, and technical ways in which the Crescent City has endured for more than 300 years.” • Choice
“It should be noted that Rohland has presented with Changes in the Air a well-articulated and argued study that, for the first time, presents the history of the hurricanes of New Orleans systematically in its three hundred years of development. Rohland's study is significant well beyond the space of New Orleans and the temporary phenomena of hurricanes: The author very vividly conveys a structural, historical understanding for continuities, ruptures and changes in disaster adaptation practices in the Anthropocene.” • Neue Politische Literatur
“In her compelling book, Dr. Eleonora Rohland blends history with social science analysis to make a superb contribution to scholarship on hurricanes, environmental history, and American history.” • Joyce Chaplin, Harvard University
“Rohland’s work is a deeply researched and persuasively argued exploration of the essential role of historical scholarship in understanding long-term human adaptation to changing environments. It transcends the boundaries of environmental history and presents powerful insights into current issues related to global change.” • Craig E. Colten, Louisiana State University
Eleonora Rohland holds a doctorate from the Ruhr-University Bochum. She is full Professor at Bielefeld University and the author of Entangled History and the Environment? Socio-Environmental Transformations in the Caribbean, 1492-1800 (WVT/ University of New Orleans Press, 2021) and of Sharing the Risk: Fire, Climate, and Disaster—Swiss Re 1864–1906 (Crucible Books, 2011).
List of Figures and Maps
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Hurricane Katrina and the Future of the Past
Chapter 1. Adaptation, Knowledge, and Hurricanes in History
Chapter 2. Environmental Learning and Path Dependence
Chapter 3. Moving out of Harm’s Way
Chapter 4. Disaster and Social Order
Chapter 5. Hurricanes vs. “Mass Idleness”
Chapter 6. To Mandate or Not to Mandate…
Chapter 7. Adaptive Practices, Past and Present
Bibliography
Index