The Children's Blizzard
by
Non fiction is not my genre but a couple times a year I seem to end up reading a non fiction selection. The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin is the library's book club selection of the Columbia City, Indiana book group for February. And while I no longer live there I still read along with the group sometimes. I am very glad to have been exposed to this book. I never would have picked it out of a list and it was a very informative read. One of my hobbies is genealogy and this book does a beautiful job of explaining the wave of immigration that occurred in the US in the late 1800s and the settlement of the great northern plains. It makes the every day life of these pioneers come to focus not only in Europe and their travel to arrive in the New World but the make up of their days on the prairie is clearly depicted. The book mixes history and science as it clearly explains what made the huge weather front of January 1888 develop and why it was not predicted. The description of our governments weather service at the time was very interesting. The fact that so many of these pioneer children were stranded in one room school houses when the blizzard hit and many died trying to get home was a horrifying concept. I was not aware that this event took place although I knew that bad weather including large snow storms did take place on the great northern plains. I highly recommend this book. It is very informative and written in an interesting manner. David Laskin does a great job in making complex concepts understandable and interesting. Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow links to more information. And follow the link below to enjoy the video.
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