Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's
Pulitzer prize-winning epic remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the
background of dust bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of the
Joad family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel West in search
of the promised land.
Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires and broken dreams, yet out
of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human, yet
majestic in its scale and moral vision; an eloquent tribute to the endurance and
dignity of the human spirit.