Books by donald worster author of a passion for nature. Donald worsters dust bowl is the bestknown scholarly book on the topic and a seminal work in the. Donald worster s classic chronicle of the devastating years between 1929 and 1939 tells the story of the dust bowl in ecological as well as human terms. Donald worsters most popular book is ecological imperialism. In the mid 1930s, north americas great plains faced one of the worst manmade environmental disasters in world history. It was a time of drought, famine, and poverty that existed in the 1930s. Donald worster born 1941 is an american environmental historian and was the hall distinguished professor of american history at the university of kansas. Jun 14, 2017 donald worster s classic chronicle of the devastating years between 1929 and 1939 tells the story of the dust bowl in ecological as well as human terms.
The southern plains in the 1930s by donald worster. And as a document of one of the worst ecological blunders in history p. The southern plains in the 1930s donald worster isbn. Donald worster the 1930s are a decade marked by devastation. The dust bowl by donald worster was a very interesting book in a way that it told the whole history of the plains and how it happened. Now, twentyfive years after his book helped to define the new field of environmental history, worster shares his more recent thoughts on the subject of the land and how humans interact with it.
Worster s historical masterpiece analyzes the causes, effects, and longterm impact of the 1930s dust bowl upon america in terms of farming, planning, industry, migration, and culture, as well as. Now, twentyfive years after his book helped to define the new field of environmental history, worster shares his more recent thoughts on the subject of the land and how humans interact. Through later governmental intervention and methods of erosionprevention farming, the dust bowl phenomenon has been virtually eliminated, thus left a historic reference. Donald worster s dust bowl, the southern plains in the 1930s, is an intricately detailed account of this storm which produced black blizzards and carried dust and sand from the southern plains, near the panhandle of oklahoma, to cities such as atlanta and new york. The dust bowls forced migration of people, many of them farmers who helped feed the rest of the country, a classic example of climate changebased displacement, resonates with many similar incidents in more recent history. Earlier books include a river running west, the wealth of nature, under western skies, rivers of empire, dust bowl, and natures economy, which together have won more than dozen book prizes. As the cattle industry collapsed, locals went to the movies to worship mythic anglo cowboys, while the real mexican cowboys around them starved. As a native of the plains, worster has a personal connection to the material and as he tells us in the preface the book was written to examine the reasons. The dust bowl was the darkest moment in the twentiethcentury life of the southern plains, pg. Donald worster personal recollections recreate experiences of two dust bowl communities. The updated edition, links the dust bowl to current political, economic and ecological issues.
Now, twentyfive years after his book helped to define the new field of environmental history, worster shares his more recent thoughts on the subject of the land. Image via goodreads in his bancroft prize winning book, dust bowl. American exodus is the first book to examine the cultural implications of that massive 20thcentury population shift. The dust bowl migration was part of a larger heartland diaspora that has sent millions of southerners and rural midwesterners to the nations northern and western industrial perimeter. The dust bowl came about because the expansionary energy of the united states had finally encountered a volatile, marginal land, destroying the delicate. Cimarron was the archetypal dust bowl communityeroded, depopulated, broke, and on relief. Donald worsters classic chronicle of the devastating years between 1929 and 1939 tells the story of the dust bowl in ecological as well as human terms. This book is for my research paper on the topic of the dust bowl and it gives a very powerful overview presentation of the history, sociology, psychology, and ecology of the region.
The dust bowl and unchecked capitalism ryan williams. Twentyfive years after his book helped to define the new field of environmental history, worster shares his more recent thoughts on the subject of the land and how humans interact with it. Now, twentyfive years after his book helped to define the new field of environmental. Sep 30, 1979 donald worster s classic chronicle of the devastating years between 1929 and 1939 tells the story of the dust bowl in ecological as well as human terms. Dust bowl bt donald worster essay 764 words bartleby. Twentyfive years after his book helped to define the new field of environmental history, worster links the dust bowl to current political, economic, and ecological issues. For farming families of the southern plains, the plight of the great depression was made all the more harrowing by the onset of the dust bowl, as readers of the grapes of wrath will remember well.
I liked how it focused the link in the great depression and dust bowl hitting at the same time. Donald worster has 33 books on goodreads with 9482 ratings. The dust bowl s forced migration of people, many of them farmers who helped feed the rest of the country, a classic example of climate changebased displacement, resonates with many similar incidents in more recent history. Depression, new deal, agriculture, capitalism, environmental history. Donald worsters dust bowl, the southern plains in the 1930s, is an intricately detailed account of this storm which produced black blizzards and carried dust and sand from the southern plains, near the panhandle of oklahoma, to cities such as atlanta and new york. In dust bowl, worster argues that the titular catastrophe was caused mainly by two factors. Donald worster s synthesis of ecology and social history set a precedent for the burgeoning field when the book was published in 1979.
An intriguing dimension of the book is that it represents a native sons coming to terms with a catastrophe that touched his own family, since worsters parents. The southern plains in the 1930s by donald worster in chm, djvu, fb2 download ebook. Delaware county district library ohio scanned in china. The southern plains in the 1930s, the environmental catastrophe of the dust bowl was unequivocally linked to the economical disaster of the great depression, that the same society produced them both, and for similar reasons. Dust bowl paperback donald worster oxford university. Sep 16, 2004 donald worster s classic chronicle of the devastating years between 1929 and 1939 tells the story of the dust bowl in ecological as well as human terms. There are also other usda studies as well as a huge photographic. He is former president of the american society for environmental history and a member of the american academy of arts and sciences. Environmental historian donald worsters dust bowl points the finger for the agricultural, environmental, and economic disaster on the great plains in the 1930s unambiguously in one direction.
Sep 09, 2004 donald worster s classic chronicle of the devastating years between 1929 and 1939 tells the story of the dust bowl in ecological as well as human terms. Winner of the prestigious bancroft prize for his book dust bowl, worster has helped bring humanitys interaction with nature to the forefront of historical thinking. Worsters book is the first to pinpoint the results of the mechanization and defiance of nature, and the sources of such practices. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. List of books and articles about dust bowl online research. But if you were living in texas, oklahoma, kansas or any of those surrounding states you had. The southern plains in the 1930s, prolific environmental historian and plains native donald worster is the first to establish the link between american capitalism and the ecological crisis.
If you are interested in the history of the dust bowl, this book would be the first step in. Worsters historical masterpiece analyzes the causes, effects, and longterm impact of the 1930s dust bowl upon america in terms of farming, planning, industry, migration, and culture, as well as. Dust bowl paperback donald worster oxford university press. The depression brought further suffering to the region. He is one of the founders of, and leading figures in, the field of environmental history. Now, twentyfive years after his book helped to define the new field of environmental history, worster shares his more recent thoughts on the. Donald worster first wrote this book in 1979 based on his research and interviews about the dust bowl era in the southern plains. An intriguing dimension of the book is that it represents a native sons coming to terms with a catastrophe that touched his own family, since worsters parents lived through the dust bowl years.
Worster, dust bowl, the southern plains in the 1930s book. As a native of the plains, worster has a personal connection to the material and as he tells us in the preface the. Now, in the wealth of nature, he offers a series of thoughtful, eloquent essays which lay out his views on environmental history, tying the study of the past to todays agenda for. The dust bowl by donald worster essay book on study boss. Dust bowl is an undeniable classic of environmental history.
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