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 in the darkest years of the Depression.

For almost a decade, a devastating combination of drought, wind, and poor farming practices turned millions of acres of the Great Plains into a wasteland. Ceaseless "black blizzards," turned night into day, killed crops and livestock, threatened the lives of small children, and buried homesteaders' hopes under huge dunes of dirt. The authors tell the story through private letters, newspaper accounts, and vivid interviews conducted with dozens of survivors...

Discusses the causes and effects of the disastrous dust storms that hit the Great Plains in the 1930s.

Most people have at least seen a snowstorm on television, but imagine a storm of dust instead of snow. These were called black blizzards in the Dust Bowl, which was the name for the Great Plains of the United States during the 1930s. Readers will learn what transformed green farmland and lush grassland into a disaster area, forcing thousands to leave, and finally how the land was restored. Stunning photographs reflect the conditions, while Make the...