--- product_id: 1699190 title: "The Children's Blizzard" price: "£15.03" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 12 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/1699190-the-childrens-blizzard store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # Top 10 Weather book bestseller Paperback with tactile ragged edges Immersive blizzard-themed cover art The Children's Blizzard **Price:** £15.03 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > ❄️ Dive into the storm that shaped America’s frontier — before everyone else does! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Children's Blizzard - **How much does it cost?** £15.03 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/1699190-the-childrens-blizzard) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Unforgettable Human Stories:** Follow the intertwined fates of immigrant families caught in a deadly 1888 blizzard. - • **Exclusive P.S. Edition Insights:** Gain deeper understanding with 16 extra pages of author interviews and bonus content. - • **Authentic Vintage Paperback Feel:** Ragged edges and evocative cover art create a tactile connection to the past. - • **Top-Ranked Weather & Disaster Read:** Join thousands of readers who made this a top 10 bestseller in Weather books. - • **Historical Depth Meets Narrative Thrill:** Experience a meticulously researched true story that reads like a gripping thriller. ## Overview The Children's Blizzard is a bestselling historical nonfiction paperback that vividly recounts the deadly 1888 prairie blizzard which devastated immigrant settlers on the Great Plains. Featuring ragged-edge pages and striking cover art, this narrative masterwork blends meticulous research with emotional storytelling, tracing the lives of families caught in a sudden, catastrophic storm. Highly rated and ranked in the top 10 Weather books, it offers readers a powerful window into a pivotal moment in American history. ## Description “David Laskin deploys historical fact of the finest grain to tell the story of a monstrous blizzard that caught the settlers of the Great Plains utterly by surprise. . . . This is a book best read with a fire roaring in the hearth and a blanket and box of tissues near at hand.” — Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City “Heartbreaking. . . . This account of the 1888 blizzard reads like a thriller.” — Entertainment Weekly The gripping true story of an epic prairie snowstorm that killed hundreds of newly arrived homesteaders and cast a shadow on the promise of the American frontier. January 12, 1888, began as an unseasonably warm morning across the Great Plains of Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota, the weather so mild that children walked to school without coats and gloves. But that afternoon, without warning, the atmosphere suddenly, violently changed. One moment the air was calm; the next the sky exploded in a raging chaos of horizontal snow and hurricane-force winds. Temperatures plunged as an unprecedented cold front ripped through the center of the continent. By the next morning, some five hundred people lay dead on the drifted prairie after a devastating natural disaster, many of them children who had perished on their way home from country schools. In a few terrifying hours, the hopes of the pioneers had been blasted by the bitter realities of their harsh environment. Recent immigrants from Germany, Norway, Denmark, and the Ukraine learned that their free homestead was not a paradise but a hard, unforgiving place governed by natural forces they neither understood nor controlled. With the storm as its dramatic, heartbreaking focal point, The Children's Blizzard captures this pivotal moment in American history by tracing the stories of five families who were forever changed that day. In this powerful work of narrative nonfiction, David Laskin has produced a masterful portrait of a tragic crucible in the settlement of the American heartland. The P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more. Laskin’s meticulous account of this Gilded Age tragedy reveals: Pioneer History: The harrowing true story of settlers on the American frontier, lured by the promise of free land only to face an unforgiving environment they could not control. Extreme Weather: A minute-by-minute account of January 12, 1888, when an unseasonably mild day exploded into a hurricane of snow, trapping hundreds of adults and children without warning. A Survival Story: The intertwined fates of five immigrant families whose lives were forever changed by a few terrifying hours, a pivotal event in 19th-century history. Historical Nonfiction: Meticulously researched and deeply moving, this portrait of an epic prairie snowstorm reads with the urgency of a thriller. Review: Great Plains Winter - A great book! As one who has lived some years on the plains, the Great American Desert,as it was called in the nineteenth century, I have come to know how severe the weather here can be, how changeable, and on occasion, how fatal. But this is not simply a book about weather on the plains. It is a book about the American immigrant experience, about perseverence and overcoming obstacles that would daunt the bravest soul. It is the story first of people leaving everything behind in Europe for the promise of free land in America in the nineteenth century. These were families who left farms and families and traditions and all that they had known in order to travel thousands of miles and try to make it in one of the harshest places on earth, the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Montana. Their toils are enormous, and Laskin does a good job of describing just how enormous they were. In an area clearly not suitable for agriculture they painstakingly cleared the sod, built houses with it, tried to hang on until a crop could be planted and harvested, and were very hard up against it for years. And then there is the storm of 1888. In a freakish event, the weather in January of that year suddenly gave promise of an early spring. On the day of the storm the little ones went off to school wearing spring clothes, many with no coats. Then by midday the temperature dropped like a stone, and that event was quickly followed by a horrendous blizzard so thick with ice crystals that nothing was visible for more than a few feet. Teachers debated holding the little ones in the school until help came or letting them go home on their own. Some teachers tried to accompany the students. Some let them go. In case after case the little ones were quickly disoriented and soon froze to death. It was as awful and as simple as that. Laskin describes hyperthermia and frostbite, and shows why these can be fatal. He does his best to show how and why this storm was such a surprise, and therefore so fatal, to those who endured it. He drives the miles (and miles...and miles) across the prairie where the events occurred to interview the descendants of the families who suffered it all. Many still live in the region. In the end, it's difficult to cast much blame in any direction, though many tried to do so. This is a great read. If I were teaching a course on the Great Plains I would include this as required reading along with Ian Frazier, Mari Sandoz, Ken Haruf, and Jim Henderson. It is a window on the prairie and on an America now gone, and well worth the tale. Review: Dark Day for a Great Experiment - This fascinating and tragic account of the nineteenth-century blizzard that killed scores of people is rich with personal, political and scientific detail that placed the storm in the context of America's push to settle its frontier. Laskin traces the fate of several families induced by the Homestead Act to travel to the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa from their native European and Ukranian homelands, to establish new farms in the harsh environment of the Plains states. Focusing on their children - caught by the blizzard on the way home from school - made the story all the more poignant. The best parts of the book focused on the personal stories of these families, how they were caught in the storm, and affected in its aftermath. One schoolteacher braved the storm after (possibly) tying schoolchildren together and all survived. Another lost more than half of his class trying to travel less than a quarter mile to safety. However, Laskin pulled too many people into the narrative, which made their stories difficult to follow at times. Likewise, the evolution and fate of Army Signal Corp. officers who failed to predict the storm, while interesting, was cluttered with too many backstories, that seemed to bear little or no relationship to the tragedy unfolding in the Plains. Some of the most fascinating passages just talked about the weather. Laskin made dry meteorological details equal parts magical and terrifying as seen through the recollections of nineteenth century pioneers. "The air popped and sizzled when a hand was passed over someone's head," because the violent storm generated so much static electricity. p. 176. One man found that "when his fingers snapped [] fire came from them," and another watched "sparks of electricity leap from the gilt molding used for hanging pictures." p.176-177. Likewise, reports of powdered snow, pulverized by the storm, suffocating and blinding people as it clogged airways and sealed frozen eyelids together, made it easier to understand how tough pioneers became lost and frozen a hundred feet from safety. At times, though, the meteorological details weighed down the narrative. An early passage describing how cold and warm fronts converge, and speculating on the impact of Rocky Mountain topography on storm development, was mind-numbing. Though the author valiantly tried to rescue the description with thoughtful metaphors, those fragments of understanding seemed randomly cobbled together. Pictures - perhaps extracts from historical meteorological maps (referred to in the text, but unseen by the reader) - would have been a welcome shortcut. While these few dense passages lack the finesse of more polished works (such as Isaac's Storm), persistence is well-rewarded by the overall story. Finally, in the aftermath of the storm, Laskin's reflection that the "140-year-old scheme" to settle the Plains "has failed at the cost of trillions of dollars, countless lives and immeasurable heartbreak," was food for thought. In sum, though slow at times, Laskin's account of the "Childrens' Blizzard" was often insightful and evocative, and I highly recommend the book. ## Features - Paperback with ragged edge and picture of the blizzard ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #62,232 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #10 in Weather (Books) #23 in Natural Disasters (Books) #263 in U.S. State & Local History | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,453 Reviews | ## Images ![The Children's Blizzard - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/818mEYvYBNL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great Plains Winter *by T***E on February 6, 2011* A great book! As one who has lived some years on the plains, the Great American Desert,as it was called in the nineteenth century, I have come to know how severe the weather here can be, how changeable, and on occasion, how fatal. But this is not simply a book about weather on the plains. It is a book about the American immigrant experience, about perseverence and overcoming obstacles that would daunt the bravest soul. It is the story first of people leaving everything behind in Europe for the promise of free land in America in the nineteenth century. These were families who left farms and families and traditions and all that they had known in order to travel thousands of miles and try to make it in one of the harshest places on earth, the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Montana. Their toils are enormous, and Laskin does a good job of describing just how enormous they were. In an area clearly not suitable for agriculture they painstakingly cleared the sod, built houses with it, tried to hang on until a crop could be planted and harvested, and were very hard up against it for years. And then there is the storm of 1888. In a freakish event, the weather in January of that year suddenly gave promise of an early spring. On the day of the storm the little ones went off to school wearing spring clothes, many with no coats. Then by midday the temperature dropped like a stone, and that event was quickly followed by a horrendous blizzard so thick with ice crystals that nothing was visible for more than a few feet. Teachers debated holding the little ones in the school until help came or letting them go home on their own. Some teachers tried to accompany the students. Some let them go. In case after case the little ones were quickly disoriented and soon froze to death. It was as awful and as simple as that. Laskin describes hyperthermia and frostbite, and shows why these can be fatal. He does his best to show how and why this storm was such a surprise, and therefore so fatal, to those who endured it. He drives the miles (and miles...and miles) across the prairie where the events occurred to interview the descendants of the families who suffered it all. Many still live in the region. In the end, it's difficult to cast much blame in any direction, though many tried to do so. This is a great read. If I were teaching a course on the Great Plains I would include this as required reading along with Ian Frazier, Mari Sandoz, Ken Haruf, and Jim Henderson. It is a window on the prairie and on an America now gone, and well worth the tale. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dark Day for a Great Experiment *by A***G on November 24, 2012* This fascinating and tragic account of the nineteenth-century blizzard that killed scores of people is rich with personal, political and scientific detail that placed the storm in the context of America's push to settle its frontier. Laskin traces the fate of several families induced by the Homestead Act to travel to the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa from their native European and Ukranian homelands, to establish new farms in the harsh environment of the Plains states. Focusing on their children - caught by the blizzard on the way home from school - made the story all the more poignant. The best parts of the book focused on the personal stories of these families, how they were caught in the storm, and affected in its aftermath. One schoolteacher braved the storm after (possibly) tying schoolchildren together and all survived. Another lost more than half of his class trying to travel less than a quarter mile to safety. However, Laskin pulled too many people into the narrative, which made their stories difficult to follow at times. Likewise, the evolution and fate of Army Signal Corp. officers who failed to predict the storm, while interesting, was cluttered with too many backstories, that seemed to bear little or no relationship to the tragedy unfolding in the Plains. Some of the most fascinating passages just talked about the weather. Laskin made dry meteorological details equal parts magical and terrifying as seen through the recollections of nineteenth century pioneers. "The air popped and sizzled when a hand was passed over someone's head," because the violent storm generated so much static electricity. p. 176. One man found that "when his fingers snapped [] fire came from them," and another watched "sparks of electricity leap from the gilt molding used for hanging pictures." p.176-177. Likewise, reports of powdered snow, pulverized by the storm, suffocating and blinding people as it clogged airways and sealed frozen eyelids together, made it easier to understand how tough pioneers became lost and frozen a hundred feet from safety. At times, though, the meteorological details weighed down the narrative. An early passage describing how cold and warm fronts converge, and speculating on the impact of Rocky Mountain topography on storm development, was mind-numbing. Though the author valiantly tried to rescue the description with thoughtful metaphors, those fragments of understanding seemed randomly cobbled together. Pictures - perhaps extracts from historical meteorological maps (referred to in the text, but unseen by the reader) - would have been a welcome shortcut. While these few dense passages lack the finesse of more polished works (such as Isaac's Storm), persistence is well-rewarded by the overall story. Finally, in the aftermath of the storm, Laskin's reflection that the "140-year-old scheme" to settle the Plains "has failed at the cost of trillions of dollars, countless lives and immeasurable heartbreak," was food for thought. In sum, though slow at times, Laskin's account of the "Childrens' Blizzard" was often insightful and evocative, and I highly recommend the book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ best read ever *by T***E on January 12, 2006* Having lived in North Dakota for some time, it is easy to relate to this fascinating book, it is not only about "the childrens blizzard", which in some circles is quite well known, it is about weather, geography, history, families etc. It covers so very much in its 290 some pages.It is, to me, one of, if not the best book I've ever read or have read in a very long time,it is sometimes hard for me to read books like this, cause I miss my Dakota, and because there are very real tragedies that happened here with this storm of 1888,the big snow, or whatever.I left there for economic reasons, and to this day miss it, but it is also a great pleasure to read this and other books like this because it kind of gives you a sense of being there, and being involved in it all,and, shall we say, being a little closer to home. Anyway, David Laskin has got himself an exceptional book here, and I would give it much much more than 5 stars,yes, there is a little bit of jumping around with families and names involved in what happened, but it does not cause a problem with the book,this is all expertly written, and for weather buffs, like me, the important storm information is given.It's one of those books that you can't put down, and you want even more once your done reading it. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/1699190-the-childrens-blizzard](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/1699190-the-childrens-blizzard) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-06-22*