When the Waters Recede is a poignant collection of personal essays about the desperate struggle of families and communities to save their homes and a way of life during the “Great Flood of 1993”. The essays not only describe the lasting effects of the deluge, but they resonate with the voices of the people and visions of the places that defined a significant moment in the cultural history of the Midwest. Dan Guillory skillfully places the flood and its victims, both animals and people, in the broader historical and ecological context of the Mississippi River Valley, through interviews and excerpts from Native American, French, and other early writings.