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Rating: 
Summary: Terrible Book
Review: I know specific events in this book that are very biased torward the African American's in this period, if you are looking for a book that is more factually correct and sound... I would recommend The Great Deppression: America in the 1930s by T.H. Watkins... it is much better
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific Overview Of The Great Depression Of The 193Os
Review: Most historians agree that the Second World War is the single most important event shaping and directing subsequent developments throughout the balance of the 20th century. Indeed, no single other event so shaped the world or influenced the events leading to that war than did the great worldwide depression. In this wonderful book by historian Robert McElvaine, we are treated to a terrific account of the human ordeal of the 1930s, which, as noted historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. Notes, "does justice to the social and cultural dimensions of economic crisis as well as to its political and economic impact." Here we take a busman's tour into a world literally turned upside down by the massive and systematic economic dislocations that suddenly arose in the late 1920s. Moreover, this is a quite fair-minded and scrupulously researched effort that imaginatively recreates the amazing social, economic, and political conditions of the Great Depression for the reader in a most entertaining and edifying way. Today it is difficult, especially for younger readers, to understand just how traumatic and dangerous the crisis in democracy that the events surrounding the Great Depression were, not only in this country, but also in all of the constitutional democracies of the west. To the minds of many fair-minded Americans, the capitalist system had failed, and it was the man in the street with his family who bore the cruelest brunt of this failure. Millions were set adrift, and everywhere ordinary human beings were stripped of their possessions, their livelihood, and their dignity as thousands and then millions of businesses and enterprises went bankrupt. For a time it appeared the government itself would lost the confidence of the people, and that civil order would be sacrificed along with all of the material dispossessions millions had already suffered. Socialism and even communism flourished as alternative answers in academic circles, and no one seemed sure or even confident that the system could be saved or resurrected as it continued to fail. The rise from the ashes of the Great Depression was uncertain, fitful, and quite painful, and only the advent of the circumstances surrounding the Second World War really cured the economic ills that Americans struggled with in those times. The fact that we seem to have forgotten the fact that capitalism is a god that can and does fail is worrying to the author, and he examines some of the dangerous and misguided tacit assumptions of contemporary politicians such as the supply side "voodoo" economics of Ronald Reagan's administration. I found the book to be a valuable aid in understanding how ordinary Americans, forged in the crucible of hard times and make-do, were given the character, self-reliance, and native ability to improvise that so influenced our conduct in the Second World War. Many scholars attribute our military success to the brilliant efforts by our young company and platoon leaders both in Europe and in the Pacific with providing the decisive ingredient to win the war in terms of the hand-to-hand combat. As David Kennedy argues so persuasively in "Freedom From Fear" (see my review), it was the young Americans whose characters were forged in the hard times of the Great Depression who so the moral courage and strength of character to rise up from their foxholes to win the Second World War. This is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: The Benchmark Book on the Great Depression
Review: This is the benchmark book on the Great Depression. If you are writing a college paper or just want to read the most authoritative book on the subject, get this book.
I was very impressed with how well the author documented the people, the times, and the policies that were enacted (and the political reasons they came about in that form) and kept the book moving along. The book is loaded with scholarly information.
I was surprised with some of the things I read. For example, the political measures of the time were very much a response to political forces at work and the political response the voters wanted.
My only complaint is the author's foreward for the revised edition, which strays into current political events.
In short, this book a most authoritative study of the Great Depression. It is simply outstanding.
Rating:
Summary: The Benchmark Book on the Great Depression
Review: This is the benchmark book on the Great Depression. If you are writing a college paper or just want to read the most authoritative book on the subject, get this book. I was very impressed with how well the author documented the people, the times, and the policies that were enacted (and the political reasons they came about in that form) and kept the book moving along. The book is loaded with scholarly information. I was surprised with some of the things I read. For example, the political measures of the time were very much a response to political forces and isues at the time. It is easy today to say that such and such should have been done or that so and so was so smart for doing this and that. But often political events caused some things and made other things unthinkable. In short, this book a most authoritative study of the Great Depression. It is simply outstanding. I do have one minor complaint and it does not involve the material in the book itself. The author has written an introduction that is very biased to the liberal position concerning recent policies that, frankly, it is disappointing. It is only the introduction, so do not let that taint your opinion of the book itself, which is a scholarly, balanced and thorough examination of the Great Depression.
Rating:
Summary: Bias is Part of History
Review: To those that were disappointed in this book because it was biased, I have news for you. Every historian has a "slant." It directs our research, our writing, our outline. You must approach every history book with this in mind. If you don't find bias in a history book, you probally agree with the historian's "slant." With this said, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Bias is Part of History
Review: To those that were disappointed in this book because it was biased, I have news for you. Every historian has a "slant." It directs our research, our writing, our outline. You must approach every history book with this in mind. If you don't find bias in a history book, you probally agree with the historian's "slant." With this said, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
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