In this landmark work of natural history, a journalist tells the epic story of the Mississippi River and the centuries of efforts to control it, which have damaged its once-vibrant ecosystems, carrying readers along the river's last remaining backchannels and exploring how scientists hope to restore what has been lost.

Introduction: A most magnificent spectacle -- Part I: Alluvial chronicles. Searching for a river -- Tomahawk claims -- Cosmic river -- Part II: American river. Half horse, half alligator -- The Office of River Improvement -- Dancing at the skirts of Congress -- That big green wall -- The great flood -- Part III: The unmade Mississippi. Hooked up, hard down -- Death alley -- The great unraveling -- Beautiful country -- Epilogue: The water of the future.