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Thousands of impoverished Northern European immigrants were promised that the prairie offered "land, freedom, and hope." The disastrous blizzard of 1888 revealed that their free homestead was not a paradise but a hard, unforgiving place governed by natural forces they neither understood nor controlled, and America’s heartland would never be the same.

Average Customer Rating:

Moderately disappointing

Customer Rating:

Not that great. A rather typical format: describe the characters, try to add drama and tension by describing the cliched loss of children and immigration to a strange land, jumble about with time and place, do a weak job at describing the science and end with the tragedy and you've got this book. It was pretty formulaic. I was interested in reading this because I wanted to know more about the winter described in Laura Ingalls Wilder's "The Hard Winter". I did learn that it was a different year of incredibly bad winter storms, not the particular blizzard described in this book. I was also disappointed in the overall treatment of the individual people's possible emotions, thoughts and actions. There was too much emotional drama added to what might have taken place or what those who froze to death were thinking. It didn't seem real.

one of the best books I have ever read

Customer Rating:

This nonfiction account of a tragic event is an absorbing tale. The author delves into the social, political and economic factors which led to this tragedy with an interesting and informative style. He also makes the people involved seem real and one finds themself caring what happens next. This allows the reader to appreciate the reading experience at several levels. The Children's Blizzard, is one I have never regretted buying and have sent to others as a gift.

David Laskin's The Children's Blizzard

Customer Rating:

I read this book while researching the history of natural disasters and their impact on children. David Laskin tells the story of what has been called the School Children's Blizzard, where between 250 and 500 people--many children--perished in the snow and ice before they could find adequate shelter. The morning of January 12 had been rather mild across the plains of Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakota Territories. Then a storm came up without warning; a blinding sheet of whirling snow swept across the plains and the temperature plummeted to 25 degrees below zero. Because it had been so mild, farmers had taken their wagons into town, men were in the fields, children had left for school in light-weight clothing, and many were out on horseback or walking. As the storm approached, some children remained at school, while others were sent running home only to be caught by the freezing blizzard. Laskin writes a moving drama of the plight of the homesteader families and the hundreds who lost their lives, but also explains the rudimentary meteorology of the times, the politics of the Army Signal Corps, the science of hypothermia, the impact of the storm on westward migration, and the controversy that arose in the newspapers in the days following the blizzard. Laskin chronicles five pioneer families, from the stories of their immigration to their experience of the worst storm in memory. Laskin writes with poignancy, recounting both the fateful decisions that resulted in tragic death and the numerous acts of heroism.

great for a book group

Customer Rating:

In January of 1888, a terrible blizzard, which came to be known as the "Schoolchildren's Blizzard" blew in across the Nebraska & Dakota Territory prairie. It was so-called because the deaths from the blizzard were largely of children who left school because of the bad weather coming. Sadly, they left "at the moment when the wind shifted and the sky exploded (2)." Using a wide variety of sources, Laskin has put together this account of that fateful day, but the book is much more than just a retelling of the event. He also details other immigrants' experiences such as tough crossings, and the often difficult life once they reached the Dakota territory. Laskin also discusses the state of weather forecasting at the time, and asks some pretty pointed questions about the issue of fault during the course of a natural disaster. I think a lot of people would also agree that the book is a definite statement on the power of nature and the horror it can inflict when people are unprepared (not that people can always be prepared for natural disasters). I'd definitely recommend this to people who like history in focused, short bursts (like this book or along the lines of something like Isaac's Storm) rather than out of texts. The only part where it even felt a bit boggy was the discussion on the history of weather forecasting, but that didn't really detract from my reading. If you're also interested in life on the plains, this is a good one to read as well. Very well written -- I couldn't stop reading it once I started.

Makes You Shiver

Customer Rating:

Laskin's story chronicles a monster blizzard that devastated the Great Plains in January 1888 and left some 500 people -- mostly children trying to get home from school -- frozen dead on the prairie. After a slow start the book became fascinating to me. I could do without all the meteorological stuff or the too in-depth background, but the stories of the families, their struggles and their survival was riveting.