The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression - Graphic Edition

by Amity Shlaes, Paul Rivoche (Illustrator), Chuck Dixon (Adapter)

An illustrated edition of Amity Shlaes’s #1 New York Times bestseller, featuring vivid black-and-white illustrations that capture this dark period in American history and the men and women, from all walks of life, whose character and ideas helped them persevere.

This imaginative illustrated edition brings to life one of the most devastating periods in our nation’s history—the Great Depression—through the lives of American people, from politicians and workers to businessmen, farmers, and ordinary citizens. Smart and stylish, black-and-white art from acclaimed illustrator Paul Rivoche provides an utterly original vision of the coexistence of despair and hope that characterized Depression-era America. Shlaes’s narrative and Rivoche’s art illuminate key economic concepts, presenting the thought-provoking case that New Deal regulation prolonged the Depression.

The Forgotten Man reveals through striking words and pictures moving personal stories that capture the spirit of this crucial moment in American history and the steadfast character and ingenuity of those that lived it.

Genres: History, Graphic Novels, Comics, Nonfiction, American History, Economics, Politics

293 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2014

About the author

Amity Shlaes graduated from Yale University magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1982.

Shlaes writes a column for Forbes, and served as a nationally syndicated columnist for over a decade, first at the Financial Times, then at Bloomberg. Earlier, she worked at the Wall Street Journal, where she was a member of the editorial board. She is the author of "Coolidge," "The Forgotten Man," and "The Greedy Hand, all bestsellers. Her first book, "Germany" was about German reunification.

Miss Shlaes chairs the board of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, situated at the birthplace of President Calvin Coolidge. Michael Pack of Manifold Productions is making a documentary film of her movie "Coolidge." Her new book is "Forgotten Man/Graphic" with artist Paul Rivoche. This book is for classrooms and thinkers everywhere.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was curious: a graphic novel adaptation of a conservative economic history of the New Deal. Not my political mindset, but I definitely went into it with an open mind. The format certainly does not allow for a very detailed examination of complex issues such as this, to start. I've had similar problems with other non-fiction graphic novels. But this takes it one step further down the wrong path by making a novel type narrative out of the story. This adds dialogue and motivation to the actions of historical figures, which if you feel were the incorrect actions then it is betrayed by the "adaptation" of these characters. Suddenly FDRs advisers become sweaty, power grabbing figures, while any who stand against them become noble figures standing up for the common man. It brings up many points that I would be very likely to agree with or be swayed by, especially by the abuses of judicial power, but the way the story is told it quickly degrades into noble men standing up to massive government injustice while they fight for personal liberty. It becomes a philosophical novel, like an Ayn Ryand, rather than a history. I did enjoy the use of the birth of alcoholics anonymous as an example of "people taking care of problems on their own" without government help, but the interludes really stand out. Drawn very attractively, although I don't understand the decision to portray FDR in a black silhouette for most of the first half of the book. It doesn't make him seem like an evil manipulator, and seems illogical when it suddenly switches to a standard portrayal. Also, typesetting is horrible. Font choice is miserable and much text is border-line unreadable. It was as if it was lettered over a weekend by an assistant at the publisher.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not having read the original Shlaes work of history, I decided to try out the GN edition to see if I could understand a non-fiction book without the benefit of all the words.

And it works. The author/illustrator chose to focus the period through the narrative of Wendell Wilkie, exec for a utilities company, who talks over the history of the Great Depression and it's economic impact with Irita van Doren, a literary editor and Wilkie's longtime companion. It "breaks the fourth wall" without actually breaking the fourth wall, which I liked. At times the narrative jumps around and gets disjointed, but that does emphasize how confusing and contradictory New Deal policies and their makers could be.

The art is really nice - all stark black and white for the history sections with interspersed sepia-toned modern-set (1940) sections. The style looks vintage, which suits the historical period. Have to call out a great rendering of Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" photograph which is featured in the book.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to like it when a book can entertain as a "good read" and inform as an educational piece. There are far too many pieces of information that exists that lean to far one way or the other. This graphic telling of "The Great Depression" had it's right leaning moments, but read as more informational. There was nothing overwhelming in the author's personal politics.
This book not only lead to a greater understanding of this critical period in American history, it caused me to think more of the role of government in our lives. There seems to be no one real, right answer. All we can ever do is look at what happened and make educated guesses on what to do next. The past doesn't even determine the present or the future. We can look at what was done, if we want, but too many factors change over the course of time to rely on choices once made.
What would have this period of time looked like had "The New Deal" not been? What would our lives look like today? How would be our impression of capitalism and government be shaped? This book gave me historical answers, and lead to many questions and the desire to think more deeply on how i view the role of government and business in our world today.
It would be great if more pieces of political writing, education, media today could be written and put forth in this fashion. Where we could think and discuss more of what may be best for today, instead of just throwing opinion and randomness into the discussion/debate.

This book is a great read, if you could not tell. It will inform and make you think. There are hang-ups of storytelling, as i expected by taking the length and depth of the original work into a shorter graphic telling. The story doesn't always have the best flow. Some things are left to interpretation (maybe that part on purpose). In other places the art doesn't always tell the story as well as the lack of information asks of it. Some characters are too similar looking and that caused confusion in places. There is a lot of information to get across and sometimes it feels choppy because of this. The information in the back of the book should have been in the front to get a better idea / understanding of the players in the book. So, if you read this book, read the back matter first, it will make a difference to your enjoyment.

Few books i feel the need to re-read, but this book definitely qualifies as a future re-read. It will also be a great way to educate my daughter in future years. Comics are a great source of education and a book like this goes a long way to proving the worthiness of graphic storytelling. A final note, any hang-ups of the author's view point are few and easily worked past to get to the heart of what is being discussed. Highly recommended.

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. My copy was an uncorrected proof, and some changes will occur in the final edition (due out around May 2014.)

This is a “graphic novel” version of the revisionist history book by Amity Shlaes in which she argues that the New Deal policies tended to prolong the Great Depression. For this version, the story is told through the narration of Wendell Willkie, an electric utility executive that ran against Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1940 election.

The black and white Rivoche art serves the subject well, although casting FDR’s face in shadow much of the time is an artistic choice that is perhaps a bit too obvious in its intentions.

The general notion is that government intervention in the economy was (and is) a bad thing, and that self-starting individuals such as the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous could have brought the country out of its slump much earlier. It also tries to link several of the important figures in the Roosevelt Administration to Communism, a frequent bugaboo of neoconservatives.

That said, there were many missteps in the great experiment of the New Deal, and several of them get a mention here. Some of them don’t come across quite as the author intended, I think, looking more like the result of bad individual decisions than bad government policy.

There are some really good bits in here, such as the running gag of Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon not talking.

The back has a (possibly misleading) timeline and economic chart, followed by a listing of the cast of characters. The potted biographies carefully cut off as of 1940, which means that you will need to do your own research on such figures as Ayn Rand to see where they actually ended up.

As noted in the disclaimer, this is an uncorrected proof, and some dialogue balloons have missing words or badly constructed sentences, making them make little sense, which will presumably be fixed in the finished product.

Fans of the original book should find this one interesting, as well as history buffs who enjoy graphic novels. Those of you who are not familiar with economics may want to brush up a bit to more fully understand the positions being argued here. In honesty, I’m recommending this one more for the art than the writing.

[Jody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Instead of copying the back cover or rewriting the book as so many do I will only tell you what I thought of it. It was a great book to read and it will explain a lot that you will not pick up in a classroom. Being from Tennessee you don't find many people who have something bad to say about the TVA. All I knew about it I learned in the classroom. The teachers told us that the TVA came in during a bad time in our nation when no one had work and created and provided a bunch of jobs. The TVA also used their technology to provide electricity for the small towns. We all left the classrooms with our chests stuck out thinking how our state played such an important role in such dark times. This book lets you see that everything is not as clean and shiny as people have made it out to be. I don't completely trust our government (I don't completely trust anyone but Jesus) and all my life I have heard about how good FDR and the New Deal was for America. This book shows the reader some of the gritty reality that went on behind the scenes. We get to see what the mainstream media didn't show us. I haven't read the print version of this book only this graphic version and I was hooked on it. This is not a book that is full of boring stats and figures. It uses powerful images along with greatly researched text to explain a dark time in our past.

This is a graphic novel and I liked it. There I said it. I have wrongly wrote the graphic novel off to Mad Magazine, Cracked or any other "fanboy" books there are out there thinking they were not worth my time. I now apologize. I have now added a graphic novel section onto my bookshelf and am up for reading more in the future. That being said I will close with this statement; Maus is a graphic novel of epic importance because of its subject matter. This graphic edition of The Forgotten Man is on the same shelf for the same reasons. It must be read.

[Miroku Nemeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't know that this was a revisionist history of the Great Depression praising some of the most avaricious and vile people in American history in the twentieth century, like Ayn Rand. Didn't notice the Steve Forbes endorsement I found on the back cover when I bought it on Amazon. Disappointing. A truly poisonous and insipid text, though one can learn something from the graphic novel as far as historical figures, politics, etc. if one can recognize that it is an extremely perverse propaganda piece and keep that in mind as one reads it.

[Emilia P · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a slog, and also the point was basically "The New Deal was hooey", which I don't agree with and it took me like days of reading to get to knowing that was the point for sure, and yergh bleh. But it was really well illustrated, very traditional comic book-y, and that probably kept me reading the 16 times when I wanted to slam the book shut. So basically, well done in that a lot of work was put into it, but trying to cloak an ideological mission in a bunch of minutae of the day didn't work. Blah!

[Miranda · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, stopped 30 pages in.
Seemed a bit off when a panel of Ayn Rand arriving in NYC was depicted much like a young woman arrived in Hollywood with the dream to conquer the movies (and does).
Should have been wary of the “new history” bit in the title, but lesson learned.
Aside from that, I had trouble following along with the narrative. Seems that it’s too complex to be formatted as a graphic novel.

[Taylor Ramirez]

I've gotten about 100 pages in and I don't really think this is for me. While I enjoy history it's just kind of dull. I think I'll probably unhaul it.

[marcus miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

A revisionist look at the Depression and New Deal where when President Hoover is criticized for intervening in the economy to help alleviate the suffering of the Depression you can only imagine what is said about FDR and his advisers. The hero is Wendell Willkie, a corporate lawyer who emerges as one of the main critics of the New Deal and goes on to challenge FDR for the presidency in 1940.

The book is readable and the graphics contribute to the telling. My problem is the interpretive viewpoint. I'm sure there are criticisms to be made of the New Deal, but little is said about how the country found itself in an economic depression. This is my understanding of the argument made in the book. If it sounds sarcastic, it is on purpose. -Things were fine under the non-interventionist President Coolidge, but then Hoover, the engineer, has to tinker with the economy and he screws it all up. Then FDR comes along and makes it even worse. See how high the unemployment rate rose under FDR, obviously his policies weren't working. If only the American businessmen, the enlightened disciples of capitalism and the free market were allowed to work their magic, the economy would improve and wealth would trickle down to that forgotten man of the title.-

Along the way, those directing the New Deal are smeared by making sure to talk about those who had a fascination with the Soviet Union and their implementation of communism. If the ties to the USSR aren't enough, the authors make sure to mention any ties New Dealer's had with Hitler and Mussolini. Somehow industrialist Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh's fascination with Hitler are ignored or overlooked. An example of those working to overcome problems on their own, without government involvement, is the story of Alcoholic's Anonymous. To top it all off, Ayn Rand, the patron saint of individualism and greed makes a brief appearance as someone reacting to the economic oppression of FDR's policies.

If you want to read something from the perspective of a supply-side, free-market story-teller this should do the trick, but by itself it is in no way an accurate representation of the Depression or the New Deal.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is subtitled “A New History of the Great Depression”, and it is more a new history than about the Forgotten Man, except in the sense that the phrase was used by various politicians to mean different people.

The history covers the period from about 1927 (when unemployment was 4.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 155) to 1940 (when unemployment was 14.6% and the Dow Jones was 140). It is a history of the persistence of the Great Depression despite everything government did to end it and an incidental description of why this was so.

The story is told as if by Wendell Willkie, the Republican presidential candidate in 1940 and a New Technology entrepreneur in 1927. This New Technology, electricity, would be heavily invaded by government monopolies by the end of the story.

The Forgotten Man himself appears through various people affected by government policy, such as independent merchants trying to overcome the dictates of Roosevelt’s NRA and the families who can no longer afford meat because the federal government has forced farmers to destroy piglets in order to drive pork prices up.

Government solutions are contrasted with grass-roots solutions, including the start of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Around all of these domestic problems, foreign problems are arising in the Soviet Union, in Germany, and in Italy.

The narrative is more than a bit disjointed and sentences often end unfinished for reasons I don’t understand. On the other hand, this is a huge job; over a decade of people and policy in about 300 comic book pages. It is not as readable as, for example, Larry Gonick’s Cartoon History of the Universe but it also doesn’t have the advantage of getting by on jokes; it’s a serious history that delves into specific policy and its effects on real individuals.

The comic is based on Amity Shlaes’s book The Forgotten Man, which I have not yet read.

[Jennifer Bacall · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating is 3.5 Stars

The idea of the The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression is ambitious and inspired; re-create a 2007 non-fiction book, which tells the history of the American Great Depression. The conflict: how to include the archival information and varied points of view into a linear story with original illustrations?

The attempt is noble. Author Amity Shales and Illustrator Paul Riuoche have produced some moments of excitement and fluidity but these moments, unfortunately get sticky and come to complete stops at points as characters become confused and readers are pulled into different parallel story points. The illustrations by Riuoche are spot on as a tribute to the illustration style of the first American hero comics.

Because this is told in the cartoon format the author and illustrator made the choice to tell the history as a superhero comic. In this case the hero is Wendell Willkie, a utilities executive. His heroine is friend and literary editor, Irita Van Doren. They are the propellers of the story and in sections it can get a bit twisted for the reader which peripheral plot points we should be focusing on. The story ranges from 1927-1940 and the cast of characters includes: Franklin Roosevelt, David Lilienthal, Andrew Mellon, Calvin Coolidge, Father Divine, Betty Glan, Joseph Stalin and Ayn Rand just to name a few.

History buffs will enjoy this as it shows another angle of the history, students may be able to garner some insight into life in America during this era but the book does not succeed fully at being a stand alone graphic novel. Although it includes a timeline and Cast of Characters at the end the reader must have a developed understanding of these things before reading this book, it does not stand alone.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took a while to get through even though its in a simplified format, because the concepts are kind of deep. Each page has a thought or idea its trying to get across and it takes careful reading to sometimes grasp what the concept is. Paul Rivoche's art is perfect for this project, as it is powerful and clear while also making what could be a dull image gripping and interesting.

Overall the book is a bit depressing and even slightly unnerving given current events and the undeniable parallels, but is quite informative about many different aspects of the Great Depression in the USA and the often unconstitutional, tyrannical experimentation by the Roosevelt administration to deal with it (and in the process change the nation).

[Anton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first graphic book I've ever read. Of course, I'm familiar with comic books, and cartoon strips, but I've always thought I'd corrupt myself if I read one of these.
I started reading the regular version of the book, but got side-tracked when I went on the psycho-neurology kick. Which I'm still on. So I thought I'd cheat and read this one. It took me awhile, probably about a third of the way in, to get used to it, but after that, I liked it! I discovered there is an illustrated guide at the back of the book that helps explain which character is which. I needed help with Wilkie and Rex Tugwell, and well, everybody, except Ayn Rand and Bill Wilson. And Samuel Insull....never quite knew who he was except that my father lost money on his stock, and considered him a bad-guy. Oh, and FDR; his cigarette holder is a dead give-away.
Will this book convince anyone to see the Great Depression from a different perspective? I hope so, and It seems it may have....but this isn't my chosen place for political ranting. I like the book. My father was an illustrator and I grew up knowing some of the most well known cartoonists of the 20th century....illustrators and cartoonists tend to hang out together. I was once used as a model in a cartoon..., I posed as an actor, in a strip called Mary Perkins On Stage. (It was before your time.) O.K., the book was entertaining but I still feel I have to read the print version.

[Skylar Hatfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

First graphic novel I have read. I have not yet read the text version of this book. The graphic novel seems to scratch at the surface of the story of the great depression. As I read this book, I kept asking myself why these ideas and facts were not ever part of my education. I also realized that the study of history needs to be ongoing, because its depth and breadth is too vast to cover in a semester or in one text book. Unfortunately, I see the themes and patterns of the history of the world in the 1930s repeated in my day. Though this book sketches out the story of that time, it clearly reveals that success and property do not grow from manipulation and experiments. This country must be founded on truths and all action must derived specifically from those truths. Government can never assure property and peace. Government is not far sighted or compassionate. Government exists for its own welfare and never has the welfare of the common man in mind. The common man must fend for himself and reap what he sows.

[Anaika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have not read the novel that this illustrated edition was based off of therefore I cannot compare the two. This illustrated edition does its job very well of portraying the sadness and struggle the characters are going through. The art fit the story well and enhanced the storytelling. This is a great book for those who want to learn the different perspectives individuals had during the time and learn some more informative historical facts. I had some struggle reading the book due to a few of the words that had smudged, but that was the only issue I had. I am positive that these issues will be handled for the final copy as I did have an uncorrected proof. This illustrated edition is good for those who want to learn more about this time period whether they don't like to read novels or just like the idea of an illustrated version. Overall I think it did very well grasping the time period and I give it 4 stars.

[Mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love learning about history so I thought this would be a great book to read. I have never read a comic book before, so I thought this would be interesting and would hopefully give me more information and another viewpoint of the Great Depression. I was sent an uncorrected proof, which I have to admit was difficult at times to read due to missing words and some sentences that I could not make sense of. I do have to admit that I had a difficult time reading as I was not used to the comic book type of reading with graphics and balloons with words in them. With that being said, overall the book did give me another way to look into how people felt during the Great Depression. The graphics were able to emphasize what the author was trying to inform the audience of, more so than some other books I have read on the Great Depression. I could almost feel the hopelessness and despair that our nation felt during this time.

[Dave Maddock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with Shlaes' thesis that the New Deal at best did not work and at worst prolonged and deepened the Depression. However, her book does not translate very well into graphic novel format. There are too many players and policies to keep track of and all nuance is lost when condensed and adapted into a narrative. In fact, this probably hurts rather than helps because readers who are not already sympathetic to the thesis will see the caricatures and dismiss the whole argument. For entertaining the choir only--and read the source book first.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book on Goodreads

3.5 stars

I have not read the original version of this book so I cannot compare the two. With that said, this is an interesting presentation on an important part of American History. All of my Grandparents experienced the Great Depression in the South. I saw how it affected all of them well into the 70s and 80s.

I will be sharing this book with my teens to help them better understand this time in our recent history.

[Mike Dettinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good use of the graphic novel format. No funny pictures here. The book itself is a kind of odd historical view of the Great Depression. Odd because rather than bing a straight history, it's kind of a remembrance of a LOT of what happened before and during the Great Depression thru the eyes of Wendell Wilkie. I learned a lot.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. An in-depth look at the depression era with a more progressive slant than I've previously seen. It's a bit dry in spots, as history and economics are wont to be. While I'm curious about the book this graphic novel was based on, I don't think I'm in a hurry to check it out. This is probably not to everyone's taste, but it was definitely interesting.

[Carol Chapin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t know what I was getting into when I started this graphic novel. I’ve read historical graphic novels before and learned a lot. This book is subtitled “A New History of the Great Depression”, so I looked forward to more.

I was immediately confused. The book begins with a story of despair, of a thirteen-year-old who hangs himself because his family’s economic situation is so desperate. But this was in 1938, not in 1929, and the author explains that the New Deal was not working.

As I continued reading, I felt bombarded with new characters and events. I had to turn to the Internet periodically to get some clarity and background on what I was reading. The events were all factual. But I believe that this material was ill-suited for a graphic novel. It was dense and complex. It is based on a non-graphic book, which runs over 500 pages. I suspect that the longer book went into much more detail on the unique historical perspective presented here, and on how all the events presented tied together.

As I read on, I was further confused. It became apparent that the author did not like FDR! To me, this was unheard of. He was an American hero. He gave us Social Security, among other things, and provided great relief in the Depression. So, I finally read the end notes and some of the accompanying material, to find that this book had the proverbial ax to grind. To quote from “About This Book”: “Adam Smith noted that economies fared better when managed by the free market’s invisible hand…many average citizens questioned the logic of the New Deal…Classical liberalism favors restrained government and individuals, not groups.”

So, the author believes in limited government and laissez faire, and this book redefines the events of the Great Depression through that lens. Not surprising, since some of the “heroes” listed are Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman.

I believe in capitalism with a social safety net: an unbridled market has no incentive to do what is best for society in total. In order to “opinion check” this book, I got out my college history textbook from two years ago, which I consider to be reasonable accurate – as opposed to my high school history books, which seemed to omit most things unflattering to the US. I tried to envision a continuum with this graphic novel on the far right, my college text in the middle, and “The People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn to the left. My feeling about the Depression, from all this: the economy needed government intervention to get back on track. The New Deal wasn’t perfect (mistakes were made) but was a bold and necessary intervention. Did it finally put an end to the Depression, or was it the impending war that did the trick? I haven’t studied this enough to know. But I reject the idea put forth in this book, that the Depression continued due to “arbitrary intervention from an arrogant force above.”

Finally, there’s the matter of the title, “The Forgotten Man”. I had not been aware, but FDR used this in some of his speeches to refer to the man in need. The phrase comes from an essay written in 1876. There, the Forgotten Man was not one at the very bottom of the ladder, but one who is neglected while others are helped. “Who is the forgotten man? He is the man who pays, the man who prays, the man who is never thought of.” This book further states that the government needs to favor “individuals, not groups.”

Of course, there’s truth here. In current times, it is the white, lower middle-class who feel like they are the forgotten man. They feel the government has favored minorities over them (“groups”). The true problem is that prosperity has declined for everyone except the rich. Their concern and contempt are misplaced. This book does nothing to correct that mistake.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book gets points for being fast paced and engaging. It loses points for being revisionist and limited in its view of the Great Depression. I was expecting a larger social history of common "forgotten men" surviving the Great Depression, but instead, the graphic novel adaptation of the history by the same name focuses on the Depression from the point of view of the top-down political and business elites.

Her basic argument is that the New Deal made the Great Depression worse and that the economy would have recovered faster had it been left alone, which I find highly suspicious. While certainly some of the early New Deal went through kicks and stops, the second New Deal helped stabilize and eventually alleviate the suffering, laying the greater groundwork for the lowering the economic gap in the great expansion of the 50s-60s. Certainly, the war brought the economy out of the Depression, but the graphic novel ends there, as government spending far surpassed the New Deal social programs. So while she correctly points out that the economy did not spring back into action by the New Deal, did it not alievate some of the suffering? If the goal was to save capitalism, did it not prevent a fascist coup, communist revolution, or populist rising? It sounds like instead, the New Deal didn't go far enough. Again, if the goal was to save capitalism and build social democracy.

The novel is narrated from the point of view of Wendel Wilkie, a utilities lawyer who eventually challenged Roosevelt and lost. The other characters are the braintrust of the New Deal, which she seems to be red-baiting by arguing they had gotten their ideas from the Soviet Union in the 1920s instead of the New Deal as a realization of Teddy Roosevelt's New Nationalism or Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom. Shlaes seems to point to the Hawley-Smoot tariff as the cause of the Depression, but while it probably made things worse, the bank runs in the months after the crash were really the culprit. At point point she seems to argue that John L. Lewis single handily caused the UAW sit-down strikes, when all of his attention was mostly on organizing Steel, and that workers hadn't been made militant by the conditions of the Depression and seized the initiative themselves. (Lewis, she strangely leaves out, endorsed Wilkie in 1940 against FDR.) She tries to argue that the strikes hurt the economy, when in reality, they helped bring millions of working class people out of poverty within a few years.

Fittingly, at the end, Ayn Rand plays a cameo as a young Wilkie campaign worker, so I guess I know where the narrative goes. The Forgotten Man, seems to be according to Shlaes, the rich producers who helped caused the Great Depression, and indeed, 10 years ago the Great Recession. For a book about the Great Depression, it is focused on the rich and powerful instead of those who struggled everyday to survive for nearly 12 years.

[anarresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored the style of illustration used here, which accounts for most of my rating. Rivoche lists several comic book credits but also specifies "background designs" and I think it shows. Every panel is full of detail that places the reader in time and develops the characters or themes. There is a lot of text that didn't work as well but is understandable in adapting a full-length non-fiction book. The adaptation concept is also interesting, this historical period is told as a traditional hero comic book story - I assume the non-fiction text wasn't so overt. Wendell Wilkie is the protagonist recounting his time as a utilities executive during the Great Depression through his run for the presidency against Roosevelt (that's a spoiler alert for me, but these facts are nearly a century-old so I don't think any of it can be "spoiled".) The story also follows a few side characters and even some programs (such as AA and the TVA.)

Like a comic book series this assumes the reader knows the people and universe details, it doesn't take the time to inform the reader of their backgrounds or much of their connections. I am far from high school history, and even that I don't believe delved deeply into these people and programs - I leaned on Wikipedia. I think the classroom is the best venue for this book. Alongside more detailed history texts this offers visuals that can bring the history to life (like the photographs of Dorothea Lange, recreated in this book), some provoking humor/satire (John Maynard Keynes always writes from bed in some tease I don't get, but Roosevelt is a more classic supervillain), and opportunity for discussion of all the different people invested in and affected by highly specific government policies (including the "Forgotten Man" from William Graham Sumner essays and the adapted text, in contrast to that of Roosevelt's speeches.)

[ShamSham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who woulda thunk it, a graphic novelization of the Great Depression?! Based on finance columnist Amity Shlaes' 2007 book, "The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression," the graphic novel definitely introduced me to aspects of the Depression and a whole cast of fascinating and flawed characters that I knew little to nothing about.

Most critically, it shows FDR's New Deal "failed to either return unemployment to pre-Depression levels or restore the stock market." This is contrary to the unalloyed praise of the New Deal I have almost always heard -- from American high school history textbooks to political pundits.

While this book is a fairly fascinating introduction on the subject if one has limited background on the Depression, it can be quite difficult to follow at times in the graphic novel format. I would recommend reading the "About This Book" section at the very end of the book before jumping into reading it, as it provides much needed clarity on how the book is organized and how the author intends to the reader to approach the subject matter. If there are future editions of this book, I hope they will move this section to the front.

I now look forward to reading Shlaes' full historical account!

[Kitap Yakıcı · Rating 3 out of 5]

A libertarian-conservative reenvisioning of the New Deal and its connection to the Great Depression, in graphic format. Argues that the New Deal did not help end the Depression and in fact actually extended it by creating regulatory regimes that benefitted big corporations at the expense of small businesses, more or less the "forgotten men" of the title. I don't know enough about economics or Great Depression history to know whether or not that Shlaes's argument has any merit—according to Wikipedia, conservative critics think it is spot-on, while liberal economists like Paul Krugman think it is balderdash—but I do agree with the book's other thesis, that a federal and executive power grab happened under FDR, the consequences of which remain with us today. I was also frustrated at the attempt to paint FDR as a communist archvillain, always sitting in shadow, smoldering cigarette in teeth-clenched holder. Mwahahahahaha!!

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the talent behind this book, really. The point of view overwhelms all; but, hey, in this adaptation, the narrator is Wendell Willkie! Always heard about his interesting career, even greatness, in challenge to FDR in 1940. So, as an incitement to read more widely, this works. But, yowp: it's business over labor, and FDR is a shadowy presence, his mercurial self portrayed in silhouette.
Dixon uses comics techniques with skill in this adapted script, and Rivoche's art is top-notch. It's the interpretation that gives pause, and will send me to Shlaes' writing. I've seen her newly published work, Great Society: A New History of the 1960s in America bringing the story into LBJ's time, in the stores.
Mildly recommended.

[Zulfiqar Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well illustrated graphic novel that recounts the response to the Great Depression in the form of the New Deal. The story unfolds from the perspective of Wendell Willkie, the Republican contender for President in 1940 who lost to Roosevelt. Wilkie was also a senior executive with a utility Commonwealth and Southern, and held the view that lighting up the country with new electrical appliances would lead to economic recovery. Equally well covered are the stock market crash, the decision to ditch gold, and the steps taken to support banks, agriculture and other sectors of the economy. Overall, a critique of the New Deal and the authors seem to conclude that despite much being tried, the response took too long to produce results.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shlaes' "new history of of the Great Depression" isn't really about the "forgotten man" (an early version of the silent majority) at all, or the Republicans' (specifically Wendell Wilkie) alleged concern for him, despite numerous references. It's mostly an attack on some of Roosevelt's inner circle -- especially Rex Tugwell who Shlaes sniffs out as a true commie at heart -- and individual New Deal economic moves/programs that she deems as failures.

The counterpoint is engaging if not at all persuasive. Paul Rivoche's illustrations for this graphic edition are the best part of the book.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a very easy read since it is a graphic novel. I will probably have to read the book again as the author jumps around quite a bit. Characters jump into the story without much development. So definitely look at the back of the book for character description. The book itself covers a very broad scope of the 1930’s and does an excellent job of covering the decade. Especially since the book is not very long. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an easy read.