Hurricane Camille

“In Hurricane Camille, Andrew Morris tells the fascinating story of how federal disaster relief came to be democratized. In doing so, he recounts a critical moment in the history of not only federal emergency policy, but also the modern American welfare state. It is a deeply researched, engagingly written book that makes original and important contributions to the fields of Southern history, the history of the civil rights movement, and modern American politics.”– “Joseph Crespino, author of In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution”“With the cost of disasters skyrocketing in recent years, understanding the dynamics of this pattern has become a vital undertaking. In Hurricane Camille, Andrew Morris presents this monster storm from the Nixon Presidency as the crucial turning point. Drawing on extraordinary archival research, he makes a compelling case, presenting Dixiecrat conservatives as well as Great Society liberals as the architects of Washington’s growing involvement in federal disaster politics.”– “Gareth Davies, author of From Opportunity to Entitlement: The Transformation and Decline of Great Society Liberalism”

Andrew J. F. Morris is Professor of History at Union College. He is the author of The Limits of Voluntarism: Charity and Welfare From the New Deal Through the Great Society (Cambridge University Press, 2009).