Told through the harrowing experiences of the Van Rossem family of Kuyfoort, this is the story of the great flood that swept over Holland in January, 1953. The courage and heroism of the people in their fight against the encroaching sea, the search for and rescue of survivors and the reclamation of their homes and land are depicted. “How the wind blows tonight! As if it wants to tear the house up by the roots,” says Tante Anna. But the van Rossem family isn’t worried. Isn’t their house strong and solid? And the dikes that hold back the sea—aren’t they strong, too? That very night they waken to the shriek of sirens and the clang of church bells. They hear an even more frightening sound, too—the rush of water flooding the house. And then comes the cry that strikes terror to the heart of every Dutch boy and girl: “Get to your attic. The dike gave way!”

This book explores the interplay between war and the environment in Henan Province, a hotly contested frontline territory that endured massive environmental destruction and human disruption during the conflict between China and Japan that raged during World War II. In a desperate attempt to block Japan's military advance, Chinese Nationalist armies under Chiang Kai-shek broke the Yellow River's dikes in Henan in June 1938, resulting in devastating floods that persisted until after the war's end. Greater catastrophe struck Henan in 1942-1943, when famine took some two million lives and displaced millions more. Focusing on these war-induced disasters and their aftermath, this book conceptualizes the ecology of war in terms of energy flows through and between militaries, societies, and environments. Ultimately, Micah Muscolino argues that efforts to procure and exploit nature's energy in various forms shaped the choices of generals, the fates of communities, and the trajectory of environmental change in North China.

During the occupation of the Netherlands the Germans made it impossible to carry out any maintenance work on our shores or any sounding, soil investiga tion or current-measurement work off the co ast, in the estuary of the Scheldt or in the channels between the Frisian Islands. The work ofDr. Johan van Veen, then leader of this survey, therefore came to astandstill. He then came to me and asked me to give him some task, so that he, an indefatigable worker, could continue to have work, the best antidote against the German poison, which affected only permanently unemployed men. I knew his love for the history of our traditional handling of the defence against the water. An all-round study had never been published, for in normal times a man with full knowledge of this type of work cannot find time for such a study, as water is our everlasting enemy, which must be kept under continual elose observation. From Dr. van Veen's book it will be elear that the Dutch manner of dredging, draining and reelaiming is a combination of traditions inherited from our ancestors and applied science to cope with modern demands. This tradition is in our blood. A more intimate knowledge of it will, I hope, furnish a kcy to so me of the salient points in our national character.

"In this collection of brief, evocative vignettes, Penner traces the influence of pioneer roots on the present generation as he chronicles the transformation of the land from untouched prairie to productive farm. As a boy, young Mil rubbed shoulders with the very pioneers who tamed the prairies, and he now draws on those recollections and memories passed on by his father to make the past come alive."--BOOK JACKET.