In 1992, the Chinese government decided to build a dam that would submerge 243 square miles of land and river beneath it. Hearing this news, photographer Linda Butler seized the opportunity to take a last-chance tour.

She found herself captivated by a place where "past and present were mixed together in a tantalizing brew" — where rural boatmen, coal towns, taxis and high-rises existed side-by-side on the river's shore.

"Astounded by the immensity of change that confronted the region and the tragedy of its loss," Butler made seven subsequent trips to the Yangtze to photograph its people and natural landscapes before, during and after the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.

In doing so, she created a dramatic and stirring time capsule of a moment in history — and of a place that many will never have the chance to see.

Dramatic vistas of this changing landscape are accompanied by Butler's dynamic and emotional travelogue of the Yangtze's intriguing places and people, which were caught up in the sudden thrust of modernization.

Butler's words reveal the unknown stories of the 1.3 million people who struggled to come to terms with the destruction of their homes and lives as they were jarred by the region's sudden modernization.

When the reservoir flooded the Shennong Stream, cruise ships, rather than small boats, began to transport tourists. The rural boatmen who lost their livelihoods were taken by surprise, as little information reached their remote areas.

Some of these men — many of whom were rural immigrants who did not qualify for relocation money — now spend 12 filthy, dangerous hours a day in unregulated coal mines in return for $3 — 3 times what they would make as farmers.

In addition to the loss of livelihoods is the sudden disappearance of 3,500 years of history. Ancient temples were dismantled, and dozens of architectural sites — home to precious artifacts — were abandoned as the waters rose.

Moreover, unusual physical features like limestone precipices and fluted rock formations disappeared beneath the dark waters, only to be replaced by bridges, high-rises and pollution.

"Yangtze Remembered" is a moving mosaic of "serenity and chaos, ancient time and modern noise, hope and tragedy." In this book, Butler has created a poignant timeline of nature's irrevocable, man-made destruction — a sacrifice in the name of progress.

About Linda Butler

Linda Butler is an internationally known fine-arts photographer. Her work has been collected by numerous museums, including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Cincinnati Art Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.