Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: History brought alive!

This true and unbiased account of the Great Flood is very well written, extremely interesting, and gives insight to why "levees only" was a really dumb thing for the Corps of Engineers to do to the Mississippi River flood control. One man tried to scientifically explain why it wouldn't work, but politics and power, and knowing the "right people" held sway.It isn't just about racism or white vs. black in 1927, it is also about how the influential men of New Orleans sacrificed the poorer folk of Plaquemines Parish by blowing up the levee in order to divert the Mississippi River away from the city into the wildlife rich lands. It destroyed families' life work.The mechanization of political powers caused untold damage, and yet, because of greed and power not much was learned from the mistakes made leading up to the disaster of 1927.I give it 5 stars out of 5. A great and interesting read. Not at all dry. Barry draws you a detailed picture of the history of the Mississippi River.