Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in 1930s, By Donald S. Worster. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004. Pp. vi-290.
The author, Donald Worster, wrote Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in 1930s to tell not only about the devastating years between 1929 and 1939, but his own recent thoughts on the land and how people interact with it. He talks on the state of the plains today and the scary threat of another dustbowl. He reflects on solutions such as “the Buffalo Commons,” in which antelope, deer, and bison would once again roam freely. This story tells about one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in history that was faced by North America’s Great Plains.
In the beginning of the story, Worster begins with a description of the harsh drought beginning in the early 1930s. He describes the lack of rain as the fundamental cause of the dust storms that struck the southern plains throughout the chapters.
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The first two chapters, “A Darkling Plain” and “Prelude to Dust” explain human dislocation that developed from this drought. The next two parts, lets readers view the harsh conditions. Survivors of this crisis give the reader their perspective of the storm and how it tore down their community.
The story then goes on to describe how humans misuse of these plains resulted in the “black blizzards,” that destroyed farms, homes, and top soil. The author also suggests the causes of the Dust Bowl have to do with America’s economic institutions. This story explains how America’s people paid a terrible price for ignoring environmental factors. Worster describes parallel between the plain operators who ignored the limits, and the Wall Street, who ignored the shaky foundations of the stock