This book accompanies the PBS documentary by Ken Burns and is a fascinating look at the American Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Complete with firsthand accounts and vivid photographs, this book explains the conditions (and choices) that led to the catastrophe, as well as the decisions and strategies to change farming techniques and restore the land.
I have seen the documentary, although not for a few years (although I'll be borrowing it from the library soon), but I had remembered that this book was quite good. The photographs alone are fantastic, but what I really liked was the straightforward writing style that gave insight into the whole "event," from the decisions and weather events that created the Dust Bowl right up until after farming techniques had changed and the land had undergone restoration. The firsthand accounts make this a truly compelling read.
It is also a sobering read, as the authors point out at the end of the book that farming techniques are again endangering the future of the land, since many farmers are drawing water from an aquifer that is not an infinite, boundless well.
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