The Worst Hard Time
The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · September 1, 2006
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.
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- Who it’s for
- A gripping account of the Dust Bowl pairs environmental catastrophe with the lives it upended.
- Themes
- Dust Bowl history, Family survival amid hardship, Environmental consequences
- Genres
- 20th-Century America, Natural Disasters, Southwest U.S. History
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For younger readers: Out of the Dust (scholastic Gold), Black Potatoes, The Boys in the Boat (young Readers Adaptation)
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Start with this bookAbout this book
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.
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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.
History in the Dust
A gripping account of the Dust Bowl pairs environmental catastrophe with the lives it upended.
Come here for
- The human stakes of a defining American disaster
- A close look at the costs of trifling with nature
Expect
- Historical reportage centered on a dozen families
- Urgent, respectful attention to survival and loss
Where it sits
| Natural Disasters | 74% |
|---|---|
| 20th-Century America | 63% |
| Southwest U.S. History | 30% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- 20th-Century America
- Midwest History
- Natural Disasters
- Authors
- Timothy Egan
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- September 1, 2006
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Dust Bowl history · Family survival amid hardship · Environmental consequences
- Reading lane
- 20th-Century America