"In one vitally significant year in American history, the country would experience turmoil, instability, natural disaster, bubbling political radicalism, and a rise of dangerous forces ushering in a new era of global conflict - and emerge both afresh and revitalized. At the start of 1932, the nation's worst economic crisis has left one-in-four workers without a job, countless families facing eviction, banks shutting down as desperate depositors withdraw...

From the Publisher: In this unique re-creation of one of the most dramatic periods in modern American history, Studs Terkel recaptures the Great Depression of the 1930s in all its complexity. The book is a mosaic of memories from those who were richest to those who were most destitute: politicians like James Farley and Raymond Moley; businessmen like Bill Benton and Clement Stone; a six-day bicycle racer; artists and writers; racketeers; speakeasy...

"A companion resource to the 1940 Census just released by the US National Archives, This is Who We Were, provides the reader with a deeper understanding of what life was like in America in 1940 and how it compares statistically to life today. Using both original material from the 1940 CEnsus (reprinted here in a different color), readers will find richly-illustrated Personal Profiles, Economic Data, and Current Events to give meaning and depth to...

Examines the economic growth of the United States since the Civil War, arguing that the rate of growth between 1870 and 1970 cannot be repeated and that a number of issues are further stagnating the already slow rate of productivity growth. "In the century after the Civil War, an economic revolution improved the American standard of living in ways previously unimaginable. Electric lighting, indoor plumbing, home appliances, motor vehicles, air travel,...

"Describes the people and events of the Great Depression. The reader's choices reveal the historical details from the perspectives of a Bonus Army marcher, a teenager riding the rails, and a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps"--Provided by publisher.

The draught of 1931 brought financial and emotional ruin to thousands of families in the Southern Plains. Dust Bowl was America's worst ecological disaster.

"The Darkest Year is acclaimed author William K. Klingaman's narrative history of the American home front from December 7, 1941 through the end of 1942, a psychological study of the nation under the pressure of total war. For Americans on the home front, the twelve months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor comprised the darkest year of World War Two. Despite government attempts to disguise the magnitude of American losses, it was clear...

"Marc Favreau documents the Great Depression--a time when Americans from all walks of life fell victim to poverty, insecurity, and fear--and tells the incredible story of how they survived and, ultimately, thrived. This is the story of the Great Depression in the United States, from the sweeping consequences of the market collapse to the more personal stories of individuals and communities caught up in the aftermath. Packed with photographs, primary...

Beginning with Woodrow Wilson and U.S. entry into World War I and closing with the Great Depression, The Perils ofProsperity traces the transformation of America from an agrarian, moralistic, isolationist nation into a liberal, industrialized power involved in foreign affairs in spite of itself. William E. Leuchtenburg's lively yet balanced account of this hotly debated era in American history has been a standard text for many years. This substantial...