lyzadanger’s review: “This is the stuff of nightmares. And a hell of a ride.

I can barely tolerate driving through the blasted high plains–here’s a book detailing those who staked their entire lives there, edging on starvation as deadly dust spears through their houses. It’s really a bad dream, a land gone hostile, giving nothing but taking revenge on the hubris of the poorly-informed homesteaders.

This is a read. Rollicking. Narrative. My favorite kind of history: history (real) in a novelistic, embellished format that makes it compelling, enveloping. Ardent on its core points of how Americans ravaged history and environment, but never strident or blundering. Sensitive. Individualistic. A wonderful overview (with in-depth chunks) for those, like me, ignorant of this dismal slice of the 20th century.

Highly recommended even for those who sometimes have trouble getting through history.”
Mariner Books (2006), Paperback, 352 pages
tags: depression, american history, history, 1930s, dust bowl, nonfiction, read, readin2008