09/18/2026
“The Worst Hard Time” by Timothy Egan brings the horror and hubris of the 1930s Dust Bowl to life. This National Book Award–winning work tells the story of the people who lived through it, who stayed, as even the earth itself was fleeing the ravaged plains. Egan uses their own words, saved in interviews, journals, and oral histories, along with news stories and government reports from the time.
The human story is bleak, one of unrelenting hardship. The story of the land is heartbreaking. Lured west by the promise of cheap land and encouraged by a surge in wheat prices during World War I, settlers plowed up hundreds of thousands of acres of native prairie grass. When wheat prices fell and drought settled in, the naked soil took flight, blowing across the land in clouds thousands of feet high. Some of the land still hasn’t recovered, nearly 100 years later. As the West struggles through another year of drought, it’s enlightening to look back and reflect on what we’ve learned—and what we haven’t.
**“Fun” river connection! The wet years that encouraged homesteaders and seemed to lend truth to the idea that “rain follows the plow” are the same wet years that convinced the architects of the Colorado River Compact that the river’s average annual flow was 17 million acre-feet of water! (The real number is closer to 13 million.)**
Bonus Worm: This is an excellent audio book! Narrator Jacob York puts real emotion and energy into the tale. This is as riveting as history listening gets.
Brought to you by Susan Munroe
Link in bio to purchase from Narrow Gauge Book Coop (https://narrowgaugebooks.com/book/9780618773473)
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