"The Katrina disaster was not a weather event of summer 2005. It was a disaster a century in the making, a product of lessons learned from previous floods, corporate and government decision making, and the political economy of the United States at large. New Orleans's history is America's history, and Katrina represents America's possible future"-- Provided by publisher.

Part I. How to sink New Orleans : controlling floods, oil, and states' rights, 1927-1965 -- Help! -- Hurricane Betsy and the politics of disaster in the Lower Ninth Ward, 1965-1967 -- The new New Orleans -- Louisiana grows and shrinks, 1967-2005 -- Part II. Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? -- Hurricane Katrina, August-September 2005 -- Rebuilding the land of dreams : 2005-2015 -- Epilogue: The end of empire, Louisiana.