Excellent history of the dust bowl citing the scientific reasons believed to be the cause of this  disastrous time while speakin
588213
Excellent history of the dust bowl citing the scientific reasons believed to be the cause of this  disastrous time while speaking of the humanity that struggled to achieve the American Dream in this god forsaken land. Well written and is certainly relative to the times in which we are currently living. Loved this book!!!
2134516
Excellent writing. Avoided the pitfall of over sensationalizing the tragedy.  Gave a real sense of what it must have been like to make the amazing trek west.  Interesting science bits about climate and human adaptation to extreme conditions. Very interesting.
1747958
Good book on the Dust Bowl during the Depression.
403392
Very good on explaining the causes and reasons on the possible collapse of the US financial systems. Also liked the factual explanation of the farse of Gore's climate myths and heresies.
1071945
An excellent book for the history of the dust bowl days.  I have friends whose parents endured
these times, and the book was accurate.  However, I learned more about the actual cause of that
disaster than I had been taught in school.  The book arrived  in very good condition, and within the
time stated.  This is a book I will keep, and refer to many times......extremely well written.  Highly recommend
if you're into history of out country.
4546857
An excellent background with the written and oral history of the Indian problem of the last half of the 1800's. The detail provided is an excellent report on the Army and it's requiremnts to follow the directions of a devious and inept Congress and Indian Commission.
4832374
I RECEIVED QUITE A HISTORY LESSON WITH THIS BOOK!  I HAD NO IDEA OF WHAT THESE DUST STORMS WERE LIKE BACK THEN.  OUR HISTORY CLASS DIDN'T COVER THE DEPRESSION ERA LIKE THIS BOOK DID.  WHAT A HORRIBLE TIME FOR THESE PEOPLE.  I WAS REALLY GLAD I READ THIS BOOK.
1095501
Egan writes a wonderful book of the survivors and what they endured.  He also explains why the dust storms happened, and  he also writes of the harm being done to the underground water supply at the moment.  We need to pay more attention to our natural world as it is intended to be and avoid over exploiting it as is being done now.
1954226
Grade schoolers and junior high school students will find this to be an excellent introduction to the causes of the Civil War, including the leading cause- slavery and the attempt by some politicians and others to extend it into the territories and newly forming states. The organization of the facts and the writing by historian Don Nardo are first rate and the pictures and layout by the publisher are very nicely done. I recomend the book highly.
1998040
Not at all dated, this is a carefully researched treatment. I feel more attracted to Tom VanFlandern's Exploded Planet Hypothesis as the best explanation for Mars' obliteration, but Hancock does an excellent job of putting forth the comet impact theory alternative. He's a careful researcher and an exceptionally lucid science writer.
2815252
An excellent series of stories about the dust bowl era in the Great Plains.  Timothy Egan tells us about the people and the places in a way that allows us to comprehend and appreciate the terrible hardship they endured.
1382464
I purchased this book as a continuation of my recent reading of Caravans. It has been very enlightening on several levels. The story is interspersed with flashes back to the archaeolgy team at the dig that demonstrates the train of thought that provide the conclusions in the development of the story. I have found it to be very educational towards the development of a region as well as the field of archaeology which I have never taken the time to investigate. My lack of knowledge in this field now seems odd to a western Kansas farm kid that grew up using a rather large fossil bed as a playground. Thank you James Michener for once again seeing that my education continues.
2951129
We hear a lot about the Great Depression, but the event that truly caused so much hardship for the American people, was not the crash of Wall Street and the banks, but the fact that millions of acres of farmland becoming unusual for years.

Author Timothy Egan utilized interviews with survivors, the diaries and journals of others, plus articles from the newspapers and magazines of the era. Also, going through the reports and papers published by the U.S. government and universities he tells a remarkable tale.  Once teeming with millions of buffalo and the home of Native Americans, the U.S. government decided to turn the grasslands of the Great Plains into the farm belt of America.

Egan tells the stories of hundreds (perhaps thousands) of small farms that were urged to plow up the grasslands and turn into the wheat fields that would feed the U.S.  Through subsidies and agricultural advice, that turned out to be wrong and even deceitful government and self-interested business people aided in the destruction of an eco-system that had been built over thousands of years. Within half a generation the plains became a desert where the land itself turned deadly.

An amazing story of both courage and enormous stupidity.  Also a reminder that the short-term profits that can be made might not be good in the long run.  Definitely something that we should be reminded of as things around us seem to be changing and not for the better.
2488305
This book summarizes the effects of 5 factors causing or contributing to the collapse of more than 7 societies in the past, the success of some and the potentials for future collapses including that of the US.  It lists some reasons for optimism, and reasons for pessimism.  The five factors analyzed are over use of resources causing environmental damage, climate change exacerbating environmental damage, hostile neighbors, cultural values and attitudes that limited adaption to changing circumstances, and population growth. The descriptions of the societies and their histories are very interesting, the analysis is objective, supported by evidence and for the most part supported by science, archeology and history. As a practicing forester and ecologist for more than 40 years, I consider this book is a must for anyone, liberal or conservative, who is concerned about the future they are bequeathing to their children and grand children.
1044771
I read this after watching Ken Burns' The Dust Bowl. This woman seemed to capture the experience of the 1930's in that part of the world. I believe it would be a more meaningful read if the documentary was watched first, since there was a lot of background information (at least for me) about those years.
808186
A nicely written story with a surprise problem always being presented. It also gives supported information about what was happening in the early 30 BC time. It was well worth my time reading this book. I might have rated it 5 star too.
4185378
Well told story of the events leading to the dust bowl and the hardships during those terrible times. After reading this I see how greed and a disregard for the environmental causing decline of indigenous people, animals, and plants ultimately lead to this colossal disaster that still impacts large areas of the American heartland. Unfortunately there may be similar factors and approaches that will lead the world to more widespread environmental calamities in the future.