Editors Bates and Swan (both, California State Univ., San Marcos) argue convincingly that Hurricane Katrina's severe social and environmental consequences are best apprehended within a social justice framework because the hurricane revealed and magnified extensive, entrenched patterns of racial and class discrimination against impoverished minority residents of New Orleans. To make the case, the authors organize the book's 22 well-written essays into three sections. Section 1 provides good context by showing the region's long history of black suppression. Section 2 examines contemporary manifestations of the racist ideologies and structural inequalities affecting minority groups in New Orleans. Essays in this section reiterate African Americans' continuing struggles there, but expand the discussion to examine the difficulties being experienced by Vietnamese Americans and the growing Hispanic community. Section 3 investigates federal, state, and local responses to Katrina, with a focus on increasing social justice through policy prescriptions and activism. The essays are persuasive because they blend topicality with academic rigor, providing many relevant sources, detailed footnotes, and cogent analyses of situations. The book significantly enhances understanding of the historical and contemporary circumstances that created the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. General Readers; Lower-division Undergraduates; Upper-division Undergraduates; Graduate Students; Researchers/Faculty; Two-year Technical Program Students; Professionals/Practitioners. Reviewed by M. Vickerman. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.