An acclaimed historian and "New York Times"-bestselling author offers a revelatory look at how Roger Williams shaped the nature of religion, political power, and individual rights in America.

In 1927, the Mississippi River swept across an area roughly equal in size to Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined, leaving water as deep as thirty feet on the land stretching from Illinois and Missouri south to the Gulf of Mexico. Close to a million people - in a nation of 120 million - were forced out of their homes. Some estimates place the death toll in the thousands. The Red Cross fed nearly 700,000 refugees for months....

Barry, a former Washington journalist and college football coach, compares the abuse of power in politics and sports.

" . . . shows young readers how [the 1918 Influenza Epidemic] came to pass; how science, war, and public policy collided; and how we might be able to prevent it from happening again"--