The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

An eye-opening view of an area and an era about which I knew very little.

I mean I haven't even read The Grapes of Wrath.

I had heard of the Dust Bowl and understood that Okies was a pejorative term but that was about the extent of my knowledge.

Timothy Egan provides an indepth explanation of the events which laid the foundation for the manmade disaster which overtook the Great Plains and was exacerbated by the Depression. Egan then proceeds to chronicle the Dust Bowl years through the eyes and words of the individuals who suffered through it.

He describes why those who stayed did so, in a way both convincing and heart-breaking. The decision to leave was difficult but staying often resulted in death.

The Worst Hard Time is a compassionate yet clear-eyed telling of where man's folly can take us.