The Desert of Wheat

Name: The Desert of Wheat
Rating: 3.72 (563 reviews)

by Zane Grey

First published 1919

Amazon EPUB

3.7(563)

In eastern Washington during 1917 and 1918, a wheat-growing family confronts pressures created by America’s entry into the First World War. Sabotage, labour unrest and suspicion spread through agricultural communities whose harvests have suddenly become part of the national war effort, turning local disagreements into accusations of disloyalty.

The conflict also divides families and neighbours over ethnicity, politics and duty. The novel links the scale of western wheat farming with the anxieties of the wartime home front, where food production is treated as patriotic service and ordinary disputes can be interpreted through fear of enemies, radicals and hidden conspirators.