In The Shadow Of The Trees

by Michael Schultz

A superb novel of the CCC camps. This particular camp is in NW Pennsylvania, but it is fairly typical of all CCC camps. The hero battles fires, snakes, poverty, dust, flood, everything. There is boxing, girl chasing, hard work and hard play by victims of the great depression.

264 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2003

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have often admired the work of the CCC participants in the nearby national forest. I knew about the concept of taking the unemployed young men from the cities to camps usually deep in a forest where they were fed three meals a day, provided with clothing and a place to sleep and in many cases learned a skill that would prove valuable for future work and/or military service. From this book, I learned how the camps were run on a day to day basis. The work was hard, the weather conditions could be brutal, the leadershipoften un-forgiving, but the young men were provided a small amount of money each month and money was sent to their homes to help their families live. Sports teams competed with teams from other camps. There were dances in the small towns, friendships formed that would last for their life times. I'm glad I read this book. Often times, I think our time could benefit from such a program.