Publishers Weekly
01/16/2023
New Orleans is not the only beautiful and historic Southern city loved by tourists, but plagued by racial tensions and at risk from rising waters, according to this impassioned cri de coeur. While Charleston, S.C., has not experienced as devastating an environmental disaster as Hurricane Katrina, Harvard Law School professor Crawford (Captive Audience) contends that Charleston’s recent expansion across marshes and sea islands renders it exceptionally vulnerable to climate change. The danger is not evenly distributed among the city’s inhabitants, however; the poorest Charlestonians, many of whom are African American, occupy parts of the city most at risk of destruction. But that outcome is not inevitable, according to Crawford, who profiles local activists including minister Joseph Darby; entrepreneur David White, whose nonprofit provides laundry services to people without homes on the city’s flood-prone East Side; and community development advocate Michelle Mapp, who works to “help prevent eviction and displacement of low-income and Black households.” Crawford persuasively links the precarious position of the city’s Black neighborhoods to other “legacies of slavery and racism,” including segregated schools and a lack of affordable housing for low- and middle-income families. By turns heartbreaking and hopeful, this is an eye-opening look behind Charleston’s genteel facade. (Apr.)
Laura Trethewey
"Days after reading Susan Crawford’s masterful Charleston: Race, Water and the Coming Storm, I found myself telling strangers impromptu anecdotes about the South Carolina coastal city. This is a fascinating, in-depth, soul-searching look at a beautiful city with a dark past and an uncertain future. It’s a book that I wish every community could have for facing economic inequality, racial injustice and climate change. In a blend of history, policy, science and journalism, Crawford brings Charleston to life and reveals why the city is a harbinger for the United States and the world.'
David Goodrich
"“An important and prescient book, presenting a clear-eyed view of the inevitable track of sea level rise and how it intersects with the historic and present issues of race in Charleston. The precarious situation in which this low-lying city finds itself is a microcosm of many other cities by a rising sea. But this is a story of people and not just policy. Crawford gives due attention to Black voices and the neighborhoods that are receiving the brunt of climate-driven flooding. The case for a retreat from land in jeopardy and the need to plan for future dense, affordable development on high, dry ground are eloquently expressed. A powerful portrait of the cost of climate denial coming due.
Jeff Goodell
"Charleston is a ghost story for the climate age, a sweeping and unflinching analysis of how a history of racism, greed, and political cowardice is creating a wet dystopian future for an iconic American city. Read this book and you'll understand the enormity of the challenges that coastal cities face in a rapidly warming world, and why people are fighting for change before it's too late."
Darren Walker
One of the nation’s finest public interest technologists, Susan Crawford has used her pen and position to shed light on the rural, low-income communities left out of the story of America’s digital future. In Charleston, Crawford once again asks us not to look away, detailing the inner life of a city’s legacy of racism, and calling into question whether that history will drown Black and low-income residents in the present tense, as waters rise and levees break across Charleston and America's coastal cities. This is a book that will stay with you long after you've turned its final page.
The New York Times Book Review
"All true climate-change stories are about the abuse of power. Knowing this, Susan Crawford makes a plea for climate justice in Charleston, her sweeping case study of the South Carolina city. Crawford’s book stands apart from its predecessors because of its sustained focus on one threatened city. Charleston is a fascinating and haunted locale, and Crawford is gifted at sketching its grossness and grace."
Cory Doctorow
A timely and urgent look at how America is sacrificing its digital future, productivity, connectivity, social mobility, entrepreneurial growth, education, and every other public good, thanks to rapacious telcos, scumbag lobbyists, and negligent, cash-hungry politicians. . . . You should be reading this.
Science - Viktor Mayer-Schönberger
"Crawford’s narrative is a damning indictment, grounded in facts, and a critically important story. But Fiber also offers a way out of connectivity misery.”
From the Publisher
Praise for Susan Crawford
Ochai Benkler
Engaging and accessible ... An indictment of national regulatory politics and crony capitalism and a love story about the plucky local governments overcoming the odds to bring their own communities into the twenty-first century. A microcosm of what ails America—and what nonetheless can give us hope.
ochai Benkler
Engaging and accessible ... An indictment of national regulatory politics and crony capitalism and a love story about the plucky local governments overcoming the odds to bring their own communities into the twenty-first century. A microcosm of what ails America—and what nonetheless can give us hope.
Library Journal
★ 03/01/2023
Crawford's (John A. Reilly Clinical Prof. of Law, Harvard Law Sch.; Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution and Why America Might Miss It) book about Charleston's imminent coastal climate crisis, intertwined with the city's racial issues, is truly an eye-opener. Crawford's writing style is clear and engaging, and she deftly involves the reader in the problems she addresses. The book outlines federal, South Carolina, and local officials' inability to manage the prospect of sinking land and a rapidly rising sea level. Charleston flooded 89 times in 2019, 68 in 2020, and 46 in 2021, but real-estate values are booming. The author also carefully examines the racial history of Charleston. The Civil War began in its harbor of Fort Sumter, and it has a long history of gaining wealth due to its trading of enslaved people. This book depicts that history, from the period of Reconstruction through the city's modern-day government. Crawford predicts that Black and lower-income communities will be the most unlikely groups to receive assistance to move to safer ground, and that the wealthy will still rush to cash in and build on the coast. VERDICT An engaging book on the important national intersection of racism and the natural environment. Ideal for book discussion groups or citywide reading.—Amy Lewontin
