Customer Reviews

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl

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There wasn't enough here for a book. And it was too much for a single magazine article. (A series, maybe?) I found 'Worst Hard Time' lost its effectiveness at various points, made getting to the end more of a chore than I'd expected. However...

However, because I was totally unaware of this aspect of American history, my fascination with what Egan was relating, sustained me.

Aside from this, what I most got from reading the book was the haunting correlation between what was effected on the land back in the 30s (mindless arrogance, ignorance and pig-headedness) and the Wall Street meltdown of 2008. For me, this poignancy alone made it worth reading.

This is a stunning tale. Riveting in parts, depressing all throughout. Perhaps the most sobering element of all was this: 'Man never learns.' (And I used the term 'Man' intentionally, rather than 'humankind') Because I'd like to think we can learn something from the lessons Egan presents...but I doubt it.

This is an extremely readable account of the southern Plains, which was a vast flat grasslands until pioneering Americans forced the Indians off the land, slaughtered the vast bison herds, took their plows to a 10,000 year ecosystem and destroyed it. The situation has some parallels to current-day concerns about global warming - it's amazing how blind people could be to the damage they were causing. The author has done excellent homework, including many interviews with survivors of those hard times. I would have given him five stars had his editor caught the many errors of grammar in the book - but don't let that stop from you enjoying a fascinating account of a largely forgotten disaster.

The untold story of the great dust storms of the 1930s that swept through much of the mid-west and southwest. The timing of the storms couldn't have been worse as they coincided with the Great Depression. Egan also goes into good detail in explaining the overuse of the land that led to the catastrophe that is known as the "Dust Bowl".

The book itself reads more like a novel or memoir than a history text. Egan provides anecdotes of people who lived through the storms recapping their experiences. Personally, I'm into pure non-fiction (just the facts ma'am) so the writing didn't particularly appeal to me. But the historical context was interesting to learn about. Finally, the book drags on after the first 150 pages as Egan explains storm after storm, gets quite repetitious.

I recommend reading the first 150 pages to understand this important event, the rest is non-relevant.