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A review by jpeavler
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
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.