Children's Blizzard, The - Softcover

"Laskin captures the brutal, heartbreaking folly of this chapter in America's history."--Erik Larson, author of Isaac's Storm and The Devil in the White City

"An adroit, sensitive drama and a skillful addition to a popular genre. . . . A perceptive presentation, evoking lives unnoticed by history but for the tragedy of this storm."--Booklist

"A gripping chronicle of meteorological chance and human folly and error. . . . Novelistic [and] consistently affecting. . . . A rewarding read."--Publishers Weekly

"Terrifying and often vivid. . . . Laskin skillfully weaves together a clear report and explanation of the meteorological event with harrowing accounts of slow death, loss, and, survival. This book should be read by anyone wishing to fathom the terrible cost of settling that desolate, dangerous, and beautiful land."--The Atlantic Monthly

"Laskin pulls no punches. . . . The Children's Blizzard is a welcome contribution to the historical literature of American life and westward expansion."--Chicago Sun-Times

"Unearthing the stories buried in a killer snow, David Laskin compellingly recounts a devastating 1888 snowstorm."--The Seattle Times

"Heart-breaking. . . . This account of the 1888 blizzard that killed more than 100 children in the Great Plains reads like a thriller. . . . Laskin reminds us that the pioneer life wasn't so much romantic as it was deadly."--Entertainment Weekly

"In The Children's Blizzard, Mr. Laskin has written a fascinating account of the day the wind finally did what it always promises to do on those bleak Dakota prairies. . . . Mr. Laskin has chosen his subject brilliantly, for something did change in that winter blast."--The Wall Street Journal

"A terrifying but beautifully written book."--The Washington Post

"Terrifying and often vivid.... Laskin skillfully weaves together a clear report and explanation of the meteorological event with harrowing accounts of slow death, loss, and, survival."--The Atlantic Monthly

Illustrates the deadly late-nineteenth-century snowstorm in the Great Plains that killed more than five hundred people, including numerous schoolchildren, describing how the unexpected blizzard devastated generations of immigrant families and dramatically affected pioneer advancement. Reprint. 60,000 first printing.