Anxious Decades: America in Prosperity and Depression, 1920-1941: America in Prosperity and Depression 1920-1941 (Norton Twentieth Century America)

"Impressively detailed. . . . An authoritative and epic overview."—Publishers Weekly In the convulsive years between 1920 and 941, Americans were first dazzled by unprecedented economic prosperity and then beset by the worst depression in their history. It was the era of Model T's, rising incomes, scientific management, electricity, talking movies, and advertising techniques that sold a seemingly endless stream of goods. But is was also a time of grave social conflict and human suffering. The Crash forced Hoover, and then Roosevelt and the nation, to reexamine old solutions and address pressing questions of recovery and reform, economic growth and social justice. The world beyond America changed also in these years, making the country rethink its relation to events in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The illusion of superiority slowly died in the 1930s, sustaining a fatal blow in December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. "This is the story of the United States between 1920 and 1942, a time when the country soared higher and fell lower than at any period in its short history. In these convulsive years, Americans were dazzled by the pleasures of unprecedented economic prosperity and beset by the worst depression in their history. It was the era of Model T's, rising incomes, scientific management, electricity, talking movies, and advertising techniques that sold a seemingly endless stream of goods. But it was also a time of grave social conflict, human suffering, hunger marches, and soup kitchens. The birth of a full-blown consumer-oriented economy and its temporary collapse profoundly affected the physical welfare and moral sensibilities of men, women, and children from all walks of life in every region of the United States and gave rise to many of the institutions, preoccupations, and problems of our own age." "The breakdown of America's first era of high mass consumption in late 1929 brought profound changes in the connection between people and government. Harding and Coolidge, having no big plans, let the marketplace go its own way, ignoring the gambles and inherent inequities of furious economic development. The Crash, however, forced Hoover, Roosevelt, and the nation to reexamine old solutions and boldly address an abiding American dilemma: Should the federal government strive to fulfill the promises of a consumer society? How should it strike a balance between economic recovery and social reform, between renewed economic growth and unresolved issues of fairness? FDR's New Deal emerged in an effort to satisfy these questions." "The world beyond America changed also in these years and caused the nation's leaders to rethink how the country should relate to events in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. By rejecting participation in the League of Nations and other international organizations at the end of World War I, Americans and their leaders affirmed that they wished to live, work, and prosper in a world community without restraint upon their own actions or collective responsibility for the fate of others. That illusion of superiority and invulnerability slowly died in the 1950s and sustained a fatal blow in December 1941." "Ultimately, Michael Parrish's able and interesting history tells the story of America's growing pains, of a nation striving to define itself and its place in the world."--BOOK JACKET.

"Impressively detailed. . . . An authoritative and epic overview."—Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Tucked between the two world wars, the 1920s and 1930s, like the 1890s and 1960s, were pivotal in U.S. social history. In this impressively detailed chronicle, Parrish ( Felix Frankfurter and His Times ) depicts the '20s as a decade of booming economy and free-wheeling gratification (despite Prohibition) with newly available autos, radio, movies, jazz clubs and big-time sports. The nation followed the heroic accomplishments of Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, Helen Wills and Amelia Earhart. The '30s brought the Great Depression of closed banks, idle shops and factories, farm foreclosures, bread lines, soup kitchens, and financial chicanery unveiled; FDR's New Deal upended traditional government to save a country afflicted with 30% unemployment. Describing in depth such salient events as the 1930 stock market crash, Parrish maintains an authoritative and epic overview. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Oct.)

"Impressively detailed. . . . An authoritative and epic overview." Publishers Weekly In the convulsive years between 1920 and 941, Americans were first dazzled by unprecedented economic prosperity and then beset by the worst depression in their history. It was the era of Model T's, rising incomes, scientific management, electricity, talking movies, and advertising techniques that sold a seemingly endless stream of goods. But is was also a time of grave social conflict and human suffering. The Crash forced Hoover, and then Roosevelt and the nation, to reexamine old solutions and address pressing questions of recovery and reform, economic growth and social justice. The world beyond America changed also in these years, making the country rethink its relation to events in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The illusion of superiority slowly died in the 1930s, sustaining a fatal blow in December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Illustrates American life in the 1920s and '30s when the mass consumer culture of cars, motion pictures and advertising changed the way people lived; when the Great Depression shook the country's faith in traditional values and institutions; and when women first did battle for equal rights. Focuses on the people, places, and events in the United States between 1920 and 1942 Americans have elected a new president every four years since 1789.