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bibliowrecka's review
3.0
I read this after reading Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser, a biography of both Laura Ingalls Wilder and of her books and relationship with her daughter. The episode with the grasshoppers in On the Banks of Plum Creek always fascinated and terrified me, so I decided to read more about the actual history. Lockwood studied the particular locust species (the only one in North America) for years and knows his stuff. Don't read if you can't handle LOTS of detailed information about bugs, though!
joaniebaloney's review
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.25
The book is rich in detail, thorough in natural history, intriguing and surprising at times, and the author has a wry wit that elevates the book to a page-turner for me. A hard book to "rate" - I personally love an absorbing treatise written with style and wit, but a few people i thought would love it found it "too slow".
robertcollins's review
3.0
Unique book about the Rocky Mountain Locust, which swept through Kansas in 1874, devastating the state. Follows the various incidents when the RML invaded the Great Plains, and offers a theory why the invasions stopped suddenly after 1900. Obscure history, but worth reading if you have an interest in the Plains.
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