| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 96.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 187 words from this article are provided below; about 352 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 96.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. By Walter J. Fraser Jr. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2006. xvi, 319 pp. $24.95, ISBN 978-0-8203-2866-9.)

With Lowcountry Hurricanes, Walter J. Fraser Jr. joins a growing group of scholars, such as Ted Steinberg and Matthew Mulcahy, who examine the histories of natural disasters. By focusing on the impact of major storms on the economic and demographic development of Georgia and South Carolina, Fraser brings long-deserved attention to a significant force in the region's evolution. He argues that hurricanes discouraged white immigration (despite the strenuous efforts of boosters) and fostered the emergence of a small, hard-bitten group of wealthy elites. Only these men could consolidate land and "absorb heavy losses" (p. 114); they "exhibited a determined persistence to remain and rebuild despite gales and great storms" (p. 3). Ultimately, however, the frequency of hurricanes destroyed cotton and rice cultivation and brought about the demise of the phosphate industry. Fraser thus traces a direct path from hurricanes to the low country's stagnant economy, which fell heaviest on the region's African Americans (p. 218).

. . .

There are about 352 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.