The Great Depression

by Edmund O. Stillman

The event that defined the 1930s in the United States came before it started. On October 29, "Black Tuesday," stock-market investors lost more than $30 billion in the Great Crash. The ten-year Great Depression that followed was not the product of a single day or week. Nonetheless, it came as a shock to the American people and to the man they looked to for President Herbert Hoover. Soon, as banks failed, mortgages were foreclosed, and unemployment soared, bread lines formed throughout the country in grim testimony to the state of the economy. The policies of Hoover and then Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal started a long road to relief, recovery, and reform. Here, from the respected historian Edmund O. Stillman, are the stories of The Great Depression, the 1930s, and an American people defined by their resilience in the face of debilitating despair.

Genres: History, American History

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2015

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short overview of the timeline of the Great Depression, this book if focused primarily on the actions or inactions of the federal government to return the economy to an even keel. There are few insights into the lives of the people, but there were a couple of interesting lists, like the list of jobs held by an individual over a period of time and the daily wage earned at each of those jobs.

If I were really interested in the times and events of that period, I would look for something else.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

In depth

Interesting read, the parallels between the Great Depression and the much later Great Recession are startling. It was a little dry in some places but gives a good look at politics of the time.

[Alton Cornella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is worth reading if you are interested in FDR and period history. It is not complementary to FDR, which is a bit different than the history I was taught. It outlines the events leading to WWII. Looking the at the title and the photo on the cover, I was looking for more about the everyday struggles of Americans to deal with the depression. That story is not in this book. Very little about the Great Depression and more about the politics of the time.

[Jeff Rowbotham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short and even handed review of the depression its onset, impact and slow improvement. It neither vilifies Hoover or deifies FDR while describing the New Deal successes, failures and opposition and its ending in the war years. Fair without polemics; the best I have read about the era.

[James Redou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great introduction to the Great Depression. It was a quick read that created more interest in the topic.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the old saying goes, those who don't pass high school history are condemned to repeat it. This book is a nice, even-handed account of the United States during the years of the Great Depression. Even though I DID pass high school history, I found new perspectives in this book, such as the major shift in American nativism to American participation in World War II; the controversial nature of FDR's presidency, with some on the right screaming that giving more power to the government was approaching fascism; and how the whole "morality" of the nation changed during this period.

It's an excellent book and a fast read at 112 pages on my Nook. I'd recommend it to anyone that wants more perspective on this era.

[Gretchen Fatouros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels like one of the first history book I believe I have finished.

I like how this was fast-paced & didn't change the tone or writing all the way through. There was a lot of great added info that I either didn't know or never really put together before. There were pieces that were put into historical context, too, that helped make things I had heard make more sense.

If interested in leaning more about the Great Depression, this is a good one. There was another book I read about the dust storms of the Great Plains, and the 2 make great companions.