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  As Withington demonstates, floods have always been with us: they killed more than 3 million in China in 1931. If inundation has been feared since the time of Noah, it is scarcely going to be reduced by the greenhouse effect or building on flood plains.

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  i (The Independent)

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  Written by a leading disaster historian and journalist, the books narrative is authoritative, succinct and illuminating, neatly weaving the prominent role of floods in religion and myth, with hard evidence of specific deluges that may have inspired them . . . The books intermingling of natural physical processes and our social and cultural responses to them is pure geography, bringing an arguably essential historical perspective at a time when our capacity to hold back the floods is under constant scrutiny in a world beset by climate change.

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  Geographical Magazine

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  the author fills the chapters with historical accounts of floods, both avertable and inescapable, from around the world. He dissects how floods have captured the imagination of humankind, springing to life in representations ranging from horror movies to literature and art. By incorporating both the fear and the fascination of floods, Withington presents a three-dimensional introduction . . . Riddled with illustrations and well researched, this book will be enjoyed by students of natural resources and general readers alike. Recommended.

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  Choice

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  In his attractively illustrated book Withington deals with an enormous subject at a brisk pace. He has a knack of picking out precise examples and saying just enough about them . . . what distinguishes Flood is its scope and its readiness to move on from nature and science to human concerns and the different ways they have been expressed in culture.

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  Eastern Daily Press

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  Disaster historian John Withingtons new book Flood: Nature and Culture reveals that dozens of religions in different parts of the world have their own tales of apocalyptic deluges perhaps a reflection of the fact that floods are the natural disaster most commonly suffered by humanity.

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  Yareah Magazine

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  We receive many interesting new books but some titles seem to merit special mention. Such is the case with Flood: Nature and Culture by John Withington. The book itself has very high production value but what most caught my attention was the inclusion of images of classical artwork.

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  Earth and Mineral Sciences Library News

Foreword
1  Myth
2  Reality
3  Description: Floods in Literature
4  Depiction: Floods in Art and Films
5  Defence
6  Defeat?
Postscript
Notable Floods
References
Select Bibliography
Associations and Websites
Photo Acknowledgements
Index

John Withington is an award-winning television journalist, based in London. His books include Assassins’ Deeds (2020) and Secrets of the Centenarians (2017), both published by Reaktion Books.