The Battle of Pollocks Crossing

The Battle of Pollocks Crossing is a novel by J. L. Carr, drawing on the author's own experience teaching in South Dakota in 1938-39.

It follows George Gidner, a young English exchange teacher, through a year spent in the fictional town of Palisades on the Great Plains, set against the backdrop of the years leading up to the Wall Street Crash.

Carr brings his characteristic wry, understated style to a story of an outsider navigating an unfamiliar American community during a pivotal moment in twentieth-century history.