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

Timothy Egan

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade & Reference Publishers, 2006 - History - 340 pages

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.

What people are saying

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

User Review  - Cielle - Goodreads

I really liked this book. It covered a major part of the depression with what seemed to be great accuracy and attention to detail. I judge all history books on their fair treatment of religion, though ...

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

User Review  - Elgin - Goodreads

I caught a couple of hours of Ken Burns' Dust Bowl special and decided to learn more about that era. This book was outstanding on several levels. It focuses primarily on a few families and towns in ...

About the author

TIMOTHY EGAN is a national enterprise reporter for the New York Times. He is the author of five books and the recipient of several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl; A Mariner Book; Edition 001 Series
• Author: Timothy Egan
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade & Reference Publishers, 2006
• ISBN: 0618773479, 9780618773473
• Length: 340 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Economic History; History / United States / 20th Century; History / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI); Nature / Natural Disasters; Nature / Weather