This book, now available for the first time in paperback, skillfully weaves together two quite remarkable and exciting stories. The first story is that of a series of incredibly powerful floods which occurred during the last Ice Age. These prehistoric floods repeatedly escaped from a huge inland sea, scouring the deep, rich loess soils from the plains of eastern Washington and Oregon. Their legacy is the eroded "scab lands," buttes, dry falls, and old river channels (the most notable of which is the Grand Coulee) which we see today.

The second tale told in the book is a detective story full of intrigue and suspense about how the occurrence of the great floods was discovered. The epic proportions of this adventure match the scope of the floods themselves, and the face of geologic science was forever changed by the discoveries of geologist J. Harlan Bretz. Bretz devoted a lifetime of research to unraveling the chaotic and confusing story of the Spokane Floods, now renamed the Bretz Floods in his honor. His interpretation of the geologic record was contrary to all previous theories, and he was forced to defend his findings before the doubting and indeed hostile audience of his fellow geologists.

The account of the Floods and their discovery is followed by a long self-guided tour so the reader can follow the progress of the Floods from their source near Missoula, Montana to the sea near Astoria, Oregon. All the notable landmarks and signs of the Floods are described as they as are visible from the main highways nearby. These landmarks include bench lines showing the present sites of Richland, Pasco, and The Dalles under 800 feet of water, and Portland under 400 feet of water.

This book is a great read not just for Pacific Northwest residents, but for anyone interested in one of the most fascinating and geologically significant episodes in the history of our planet.