In the early days of 1937, the Ohio River, swollen by heavy winter rains, began rising. By the time the waters crested, the Ohio and Mississippi had climbed to record heights. Nearly four hundred people had died, while a million more had run from their homes. This is a history of one of the most destructive disasters in American history.

Timed to coincide with the flood's 75th anniversary, "The Thousand-Year Flood" is the first comprehensive history of one of the most destructive disasters in American history. Welky first shows how decades of settlement put Ohio Valley farms and towns at risk and how politicians and planners repeatedly ignored the dangers. Then he tells the gripping story of the river's inexorable rise. 384 pp. 7,500 print.