National Book Award Non Fiction Winner
The Worst Hard Time
by Timothy Egan
Summary
A narrative history of the 1930s Dust Bowl told from the perspective of those who stayed on the southern plains as black blizzards devoured their farms and communities. Egan combines oral histories from elderly survivors with archival research to show how reckless plowing, speculative land policy, and drought converged into the worst environmental disaster in American history. The book braids personal tragedy with a sober warning about ecological hubris.
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Historical Context & Significance
Egan tracked down the last living survivors in their 90s to capture the "black blizzards" before their firsthand history was lost forever.