Book Descriptions
for The Wild River and the Great Dam by Simon Boughton
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
The issue of water rights in the western part of the United States has always been fraught, and today’s heightened climate crises adds to tensions rooted in decisions made to waterways 100 years ago. The construction of the Hoover Dam and the manipulation of the Colorado River was the largest feat of architecture and engineering in the nation upon completion in 1936. In the first chapter, the author explains the untamed and unpredictable phenomena of the Colorado River and how and why the U.S. government invested in a dam to control the river’s powerful properties. Three robust chapters detail the ambitious construction of the dam. Built during the Great Depression, jobs created by the dam offered many white men desperately needed employment. The minimized roles available to men of color and to women are also discussed. The risks involved in the work and the living conditions were horrific, yet the project forged on. The final chapter discusses implications of the dam from its completion to present day, including the critical drop in water availability and the numerous states that depend on the Colorado River. Maps and photographs illustrate this well-researched piece of environmental history.
CCBC Choices 2025. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin – Madison, 2025. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
Booklist Editors' Choice
NSTA-CBC Best STEM Book
School Library Journal Best Nonfiction Middle to High School
A Booklist Top Ten Sci-Tech Read
A CCBC Choice
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
★ "In this detailed and informative work, Boughton chronicles the construction of the Hoover Dam via compellingly comprehensive text." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ "This well-written narrative is bound to become the authority on this modern American marvel." —Booklist, starred review
Discover the complicated history behind the construction of Hoover Dam—one of the country’s most recognizable and far-reaching landmarks—and its lasting political and environmental effects on the Colorado River and the American West.
At the time of its completion in 1936, Hoover Dam was the biggest dam in the world and the largest feat of architecture and engineering in the country—a statement of national ambition and technical achievement. It turned the wild Colorado River into a tame and securely managed water source, transforming millions of acres of desert into farmland while also providing water and power to the fast-growing population of the Southwest. The concrete monolith quickly became a symbol of American ingenuity; however, its history is laden with contradiction. It provided work for thousands, but it was a dangerous project that exploited desperate workers during the Depression. It helped secure the settlement and economies of the Southwest, but at the expense of Indigenous peoples and the environment; and it created a dependency on the Colorado River’s water, which is under threat from overuse and climate change.
Weaving together elements of engineering, geography, and political and socioeconomic history, and drawing heavily from unpublished oral histories taken from dam workers and their families, Simon Boughton’s thoughtful and compelling debut—featuring historical photographs throughout—follows the construction and impact of Hoover Dam, and how its promise of abundance ultimately created a river in crisis today.
NSTA-CBC Best STEM Book
School Library Journal Best Nonfiction Middle to High School
A Booklist Top Ten Sci-Tech Read
A CCBC Choice
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
★ "In this detailed and informative work, Boughton chronicles the construction of the Hoover Dam via compellingly comprehensive text." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ "This well-written narrative is bound to become the authority on this modern American marvel." —Booklist, starred review
Discover the complicated history behind the construction of Hoover Dam—one of the country’s most recognizable and far-reaching landmarks—and its lasting political and environmental effects on the Colorado River and the American West.
At the time of its completion in 1936, Hoover Dam was the biggest dam in the world and the largest feat of architecture and engineering in the country—a statement of national ambition and technical achievement. It turned the wild Colorado River into a tame and securely managed water source, transforming millions of acres of desert into farmland while also providing water and power to the fast-growing population of the Southwest. The concrete monolith quickly became a symbol of American ingenuity; however, its history is laden with contradiction. It provided work for thousands, but it was a dangerous project that exploited desperate workers during the Depression. It helped secure the settlement and economies of the Southwest, but at the expense of Indigenous peoples and the environment; and it created a dependency on the Colorado River’s water, which is under threat from overuse and climate change.
Weaving together elements of engineering, geography, and political and socioeconomic history, and drawing heavily from unpublished oral histories taken from dam workers and their families, Simon Boughton’s thoughtful and compelling debut—featuring historical photographs throughout—follows the construction and impact of Hoover Dam, and how its promise of abundance ultimately created a river in crisis today.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
