Well chosen photographs but I deducted one star from my rating because the author makes no effort to credit the actual photographer, instead naming the institution where the photo is filed, such as the Library of Congress.
That said, the author covers the subject very well, beginning with the geography. [My dad's father did not choose to run for land in Oklahoma in 1889, correctly believing there was insufficient rainfall there.] There is a lot of detail in this chapter, but a map showing the 20 inch rainfall line running through Missouri would have been helpful. 20 inches or more and farming or ranching is good, less than 20 inches and the rainfall is increasingly variable.
Mr. Marrin, a very experienced author, traces Conquering the Great Plains, the Coming of the Farmers, and follows with Hard Times, Dust Bowl Days, Refugees in Their Own Land, and the New Deal. He goes further than most books with a final chapter on future dust bowls.
There are interesting sidebars throughout the book.
Map, Timeline, 18 words to know, a few endnotes, nine suggested books from Al Gore to John Steinbeck, Bibliography, and Index.
That said, the author covers the subject very well, beginning with the geography. [My dad's father did not choose to run for land in Oklahoma in 1889, correctly believing there was insufficient rainfall there.] There is a lot of detail in this chapter, but a map showing the 20 inch rainfall line running through Missouri would have been helpful. 20 inches or more and farming or ranching is good, less than 20 inches and the rainfall is increasingly variable.
Mr. Marrin, a very experienced author, traces Conquering the Great Plains, the Coming of the Farmers, and follows with Hard Times, Dust Bowl Days, Refugees in Their Own Land, and the New Deal. He goes further than most books with a final chapter on future dust bowls.
There are interesting sidebars throughout the book.
Map, Timeline, 18 words to know, a few endnotes, nine suggested books from Al Gore to John Steinbeck, Bibliography, and Index.
