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The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
This National Book Award-winning story, a tour de force of historical reportage, rescues an iconic chapter of American history--the Dust Bowl that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression--from the shadows.
Following a dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, Egan tells of their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black dust blizzards, crop failure, and the death of loved ones. Brilliantly capturing the terrifying drama of catastrophe, Egan does equal justice to the human characters who become his heroes, "the stoic, long-suffering men and women whose lives he opens up with urgency and respect" (New York Times).
In an era that promises ever-greater natural disasters, The Worst Hard Time is "arguably the best nonfiction book yet" (Austin Statesman Journal) on the greatest environmental disaster ever to be visited upon our land and a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of trifling with nature.
Following a dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, Egan tells of their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black dust blizzards, crop failure, and the death of loved ones. Brilliantly capturing the terrifying drama of catastrophe, Egan does equal justice to the human characters who become his heroes, "the stoic, long-suffering men and women whose lives he opens up with urgency and respect" (New York Times).
In an era that promises ever-greater natural disasters, The Worst Hard Time is "arguably the best nonfiction book yet" (Austin Statesman Journal) on the greatest environmental disaster ever to be visited upon our land and a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of trifling with nature.
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Community Reviews
“The Worst Hard Time” is a devastating read, showing the power that nature has when meddled with. It’s difficult to imagine the immensity of the dust bowl, as we have seen nothing like it, but this paints a detailed portrait of this event. Egan pens a bulky read at times, but is filled with necessary information and stories to properly convey exactly what these farmers were going through. I’ve always found this period of American history to be interesting, as my grandfather was one of the people moving to California during the dust bowl (though they came from Arkansas, rather than the worst-struck Texas, Kansas, or Oklahoma). I definitely want to check out more on this subject, though this gave me a pretty good idea at exactly what occurred during the dust bowl.
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