A review by kaulyjo
The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
4.0
As a big fan of Erik Larson's brand of historical storytelling, I was encouraged by the recommendation provided by him on the back cover of "The Children's Blizzard." Like Larson, Laskin does a great job of weaving the emotional narrative with the facts surrounding the blizzard of 1888, and the combination is a story more than worth the telling.
On a clear January morning, the weather dawns beautifully. What had been a frigid winter had suddenly earned a respite from Mother Nature, and it was so nice that as the young children of the plains set off for school, many did so with only minimal clothing needed. When the temperature plummeted, and the sky opened up with a fury that no one had seen before, that decision proved to be fateful for many of those same children, helping the storm earn its nickname.
Growing up in Nebraska, I faced some brutal winters growing up, but clearly it was nothing like what happened in 1888. Modern conveniences aside, the landscape is vastly different than it was then, even if it's still considered barren by most of the nation. I had heard the story of this blizzard before, especially the story of the school teacher who tied a rope around her children in order to lead them to safety (though claims of the rope are disputed). Those handed down stories, however, miss the emotional impact that Laskin's retelling provides.
My one criticism of the book is, strangely enough, one of the same criticisms that I had with Larson's "Isaac's Storm." The meteorological details, mixed with some political squabbling of the day, are not as clear as I would have liked them to be. It's difficult to put technical terms into a good narrative, and I found myself skimming those sections a little more than I would have liked. Overall though, this minor hiccup doesn't detract from the book enough to scar it.
On a clear January morning, the weather dawns beautifully. What had been a frigid winter had suddenly earned a respite from Mother Nature, and it was so nice that as the young children of the plains set off for school, many did so with only minimal clothing needed. When the temperature plummeted, and the sky opened up with a fury that no one had seen before, that decision proved to be fateful for many of those same children, helping the storm earn its nickname.
Growing up in Nebraska, I faced some brutal winters growing up, but clearly it was nothing like what happened in 1888. Modern conveniences aside, the landscape is vastly different than it was then, even if it's still considered barren by most of the nation. I had heard the story of this blizzard before, especially the story of the school teacher who tied a rope around her children in order to lead them to safety (though claims of the rope are disputed). Those handed down stories, however, miss the emotional impact that Laskin's retelling provides.
My one criticism of the book is, strangely enough, one of the same criticisms that I had with Larson's "Isaac's Storm." The meteorological details, mixed with some political squabbling of the day, are not as clear as I would have liked them to be. It's difficult to put technical terms into a good narrative, and I found myself skimming those sections a little more than I would have liked. Overall though, this minor hiccup doesn't detract from the book enough to scar it.