The Ghost of Tom Joad guitar work and the lyrics on many of the tracks are a somber reflection of life in the mid-1990s in America and Mexico. The character of Tom Joad entered the American consciousness in John Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Grapes of Wrath", set against the economic hardships of the Great Depression. This spawned a film version starring Henry Fonda, which in turn inspired folk singer Woody Guthrie to pen "The Ballad of Tom Joad". The album's release was followed by Springsteen's solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, which ran from 1995 to 1997 and consisted of mostly small
Thomas-Everard family group of farmers, businessmen and media organisations who brought an unsuccessful legal challenge to the government's decision not to hold a public inquiry into the foot and mouth crisis. The Government held three inquiries all of which published its findings publicly, but gathered their information in private. Thomas-Everard family The Thomas-Everard family are a family of British farmers who became known to the public during the 2001 foot and mouth crisis. The son Guy Thomas-Everard made an impassioned plea for against his healthy farm animals being killed as part of a pre-emptive cull designed by the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries