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jpeavler's review against another edition
4.0
Anyone who questions the impact that man can have on the climate only has to look back to the early part on the 20th century to see just how much damage man can have on the environment.
This book about the Dust Bowl of the 1930's examines the impact that man had, when great swaths of land were ripped away by the wind and blown across the country.
Though more a history of events surrounding the cataclysm, which coincided with the Great Depression, and an examination of the people who lived through it, the book does delve into environmental issues by explaining the series of events that led to the ground drifting away.
Beginning with the Homestead Act, the dry lands, once home to Native Americans and bison, began to be heavily farmed. A series of natural and unnatural events led to the great dust storms and effectively killed the land.
Though repetitive in places (all the families seemed to have the same or similar stories, no matter what state they called home), it's a great, though terrifying, read which should act as a warning to current and future generations of the impact that man can have on our environment.
This book about the Dust Bowl of the 1930's examines the impact that man had, when great swaths of land were ripped away by the wind and blown across the country.
Though more a history of events surrounding the cataclysm, which coincided with the Great Depression, and an examination of the people who lived through it, the book does delve into environmental issues by explaining the series of events that led to the ground drifting away.
Beginning with the Homestead Act, the dry lands, once home to Native Americans and bison, began to be heavily farmed. A series of natural and unnatural events led to the great dust storms and effectively killed the land.
Though repetitive in places (all the families seemed to have the same or similar stories, no matter what state they called home), it's a great, though terrifying, read which should act as a warning to current and future generations of the impact that man can have on our environment.
lczach's review against another edition
3.0
This is a lot of information but was what I was looking for as I knew almost nothing about the dustbowl era. Another timely read in light of climate change.
nickn77's review against another edition
4.0
The Worst Hard Time chronicles the lives of hopeful settlers who sought their own manifest destiny in the Great Plains of America in the late 1920’s-1930’s. This was promised to be the next great American expansion and an opportunity to lay down roots and farm this barren land. These brave souls not only had to deal with the fallout from The Great Depression, but also the aftermath of what happens when a landscape is changed to suit the perceived needs of man. The American plains were annihilated by never before seen weather events that pulled centuries of top soil into the air and created dust storms that blacked out the sun, caused static electricity that shorted out vehicles and killed countless animals and men. Welcome to The Dust Bowl.
This was a bleak, depressing and eye-opening read. I was surprised at how many parallels I observed between the political and social climate of the times leading to the Depression to Today. This book serves as a reminder as to of what can happen when man attempts to change the landscape of Earth and ignores the warning signs nature sometimes is kind enough to provide. A recommended read, but have another humorous happy book with pictures of puppies and kittens nearby to keep yourself from falling into your own great depression.
This was a bleak, depressing and eye-opening read. I was surprised at how many parallels I observed between the political and social climate of the times leading to the Depression to Today. This book serves as a reminder as to of what can happen when man attempts to change the landscape of Earth and ignores the warning signs nature sometimes is kind enough to provide. A recommended read, but have another humorous happy book with pictures of puppies and kittens nearby to keep yourself from falling into your own great depression.
alaynemarie's review against another edition
4.0
This book is the story of people who lived in the midwest at the turn of the century through about 1940ish. Reading this book made me realize that we haven't learned our eco-lesson in the slightest. Moreover, books like the Grapes of Wrath DO NOT give a full sense of the devastation of the land from North Dakota down to the Texas Panhandle. In some areas, within four years all bison and natural grass had been ripped from the ground. The land were sterile, into a great American Desert, from what had been a bread basket. The result were dusters that caused people to die of Dust Pneumonia, animals to die of starvation with stomachs filled with dust at autopsy, and created dust storms that were 500 miles high and hundreds of miles wide that would sweep through the nation. For instance, when some environmentalists of the time were speaking in Washington about the devastation, one of these dust storms that had sweep the mid-west crossed into NYC, DC, and the entire eastern seaboard blacking out the sun completely. We cannot envision this level of devastation, it's beyond comprehension, and yet there was no doubt it was human actions that destroyed the lands.
katiesbeltramo's review against another edition
5.0
WHOA. Excellent perspective for whenever you're feeling cranky because you're having a bad day.
rhubarbpi3's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
I really loved this book. Did a great job contextualizing the dust bowl. I just finished reading four wins by Kristen hannah and wanted to learn more about the dust bowl and the general period. I can definitely see where some of the stories and background details from her book stem particularly from this book. I thought that was fun to track.
I thought it was particularly How Egan demonstrates the irrationality of the great depression. The massive surge in the price of wheat in the late 20s made many people want to start farming wheat. And they’re making a lot of money. But then when the great depression struck, the value of the wheat because no one was buying it because they didn’t have the money.
it didn’t make as much economical sense for the farmers to farm wheat. But they already had the infrastructure to farm wheat. It was the only way they could support themselves in their family, and many of them were in a lot of debt. And so even though it made less economic sense, it was the only option so they actually ended up planting more wheat and telling more ground. Even though it was less economical, they couldn’t pull out because they felt like there was nowhere else for them to go. I thought it was also really interesting. How Egan says that truly very few people from the affected area went to California. He states 16,000?
I appreciated his contextualization of the broader colonial narrative of the Comanche and other native communities, buffalo, and wild grasses to name a few. He also talks about how to this day we are drawing more water than will replenish itself and that the dust bowl will happen within the next 100 years unless we figure out how to reverse it.
Only critique i really have is that occasionally he will repeat the same fact or short story twice throughout the book.
I thought it was particularly How Egan demonstrates the irrationality of the great depression. The massive surge in the price of wheat in the late 20s made many people want to start farming wheat. And they’re making a lot of money. But then when the great depression struck, the value of the wheat because no one was buying it because they didn’t have the money.
it didn’t make as much economical sense for the farmers to farm wheat. But they already had the infrastructure to farm wheat. It was the only way they could support themselves in their family, and many of them were in a lot of debt. And so even though it made less economic sense, it was the only option so they actually ended up planting more wheat and telling more ground. Even though it was less economical, they couldn’t pull out because they felt like there was nowhere else for them to go. I thought it was also really interesting. How Egan says that truly very few people from the affected area went to California. He states 16,000?
I appreciated his contextualization of the broader colonial narrative of the Comanche and other native communities, buffalo, and wild grasses to name a few. He also talks about how to this day we are drawing more water than will replenish itself and that the dust bowl will happen within the next 100 years unless we figure out how to reverse it.
Only critique i really have is that occasionally he will repeat the same fact or short story twice throughout the book.
hilaryanne's review against another edition
I couldn't finish this - it was a painful read. The subject matter, of course, but also the writing style was not for me.
theredhead15's review against another edition
4.0
Toward the end I was tired of dust, dust, and more dust (I realize that those who actually lived through the decade are the only ones allowed to feel this way), but overall it is very fascinating. I cannot imagine what it was like to live during the Dust Bowl, and this book does a lot to help. I was shocked by how many details I'd never known about one of the most serious environmental catastrophes of all time. I'd venture to guess that most Americans could learn a lot from this book.