The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by: Timothy Egan
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Product Description:
The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since.
Timothy Egan’s critically acclaimed account rescues this iconic chapter of American history from the shadows in a tour de force of historical reportage. 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.
Timothy Egan’s critically acclaimed account rescues this iconic chapter of American history from the shadows in a tour de force of historical reportage. 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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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- A Must Read!!
Do not pass the opportunity to read this book. An insightful journal of lost and forgotten times in our country's earlier times.
Rating: - Exceptional
A timely and true tale of the environmental mayhem that displaced a generation, and a history lesson so well written it reads like outstanding fiction. But it's not!
Rating: - History brought to life
I'm not normally a history reader, but lately recommendations have led me in that direction- and I'm not sorry.Uncovering gems like this one through Amazon's recommendation feature is a great pastime.
The Worst Hard Time delivers a thorough account of life in a tiny American town, Dalhart, Texas, where the inhabitants have been sold a bill of goods - or rather a deed of land.The people here - and for miles and miles around, in corners of several states - force wheat out ... Read More
Rating: - And the wind hits heavy on the border line...
Timothy Egan relates that it was a son of Kansas, Roy Emerson Stryker, who came up with the idea of creating a record of American decay for the files of the Farm Security Administration, and "...the government photo unit proved to be one of the lasting and most popular contributions of the New Deal..." Americans familiar with their history have the images taken by Walter Evans and Dorothea Lange during the Great Depression as part of their cultural baggage, and Egan expands that to the work of Arthur ... Read More
Rating: - The Worst Hard Time
I could not put this down.It is a compelling story of courage and strength shown by the farmers and town's citizens of the southern plains in the midst of the great dust storms and economic depression of the 1930's.This is a piece of American history everyone should learn about.
- A Must Read!!Do not pass the opportunity to read this book. An insightful journal of lost and forgotten times in our country's earlier times.
- ExceptionalA timely and true tale of the environmental mayhem that displaced a generation, and a history lesson so well written it reads like outstanding fiction. But it's not!
- History brought to lifeI'm not normally a history reader, but lately recommendations have led me in that direction- and I'm not sorry.Uncovering gems like this one through Amazon's recommendation feature is a great pastime.
The Worst Hard Time delivers a thorough account of life in a tiny American town, Dalhart, Texas, where the inhabitants have been sold a bill of goods - or rather a deed of land.The people here - and for miles and miles around, in corners of several states - force wheat out ... Read More
- And the wind hits heavy on the border line...Timothy Egan relates that it was a son of Kansas, Roy Emerson Stryker, who came up with the idea of creating a record of American decay for the files of the Farm Security Administration, and "...the government photo unit proved to be one of the lasting and most popular contributions of the New Deal..." Americans familiar with their history have the images taken by Walter Evans and Dorothea Lange during the Great Depression as part of their cultural baggage, and Egan expands that to the work of Arthur ... Read More
- The Worst Hard TimeI could not put this down.It is a compelling story of courage and strength shown by the farmers and town's citizens of the southern plains in the midst of the great dust storms and economic depression of the 1930's.This is a piece of American history everyone should learn about.
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