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Title: Since Yesterday: The 1930s in America, September 3, 1929-September 3, 1939 by Frederick Lewis Allen ISBN: 0-06-091322-3 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 October, 1986 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.83 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: "Since Yesterday" - seems just like today!
Comment: Frederick Lewis Allen begins this short book (346 pages) where he left off in his last book ('Only Yesterday') - with the stock market crash of 1929 - and ends it with the
advent of World War II in 1939. Allen skillfully weaves the minor events of this decade (the fads, books, crimes, machines, gadgets, personalities, movies, fashions, etc.) together
with the major events (the stock market crash, the 'Great Depression', and 'the New Deal') in a delightfully entertaining, informative fashion - assuming, of course, that you
enjoy American history!
The '29 crash had been immediately preceded by the 'Big Bull' market that had carried investors and stocks onward and upward for some 2 years before it finally peaked. Investors, by then, were 'programmed' to buy, buy, buy. All feared that they might miss one last opportunity to get richer. Stock transactions sometimes became so hectic that Wall Street could not keep up with the paperwork (no computers!). Some pundits of that
day were issuing warnings that stock prices were overvalued, that investors were investing too much borrowed money, but few investors were heeding these warnings. When stock prices began falling, nothing could stop them. By the time stock values hit
bottom on 13 November investors had lost enough money to finance World War I once, or pay off the national debt twice! In a matter of months 25% of the work force was unemployed; many of them were now standing in the ubiquitous breadlines, or peddling
apples for 5 cents on street corners.
The market crash triggered another major event of the '30's - the 'great depression'. President Hoover insisted that the economy was only experiencing one of those 'cyclical
business cycles', that it would eventually 'self-correct', and that life in America would again be just great. He approved some actions to aid businessmen and failing banks, and
to create some jobs by expanding some federal work programs, but basically Hoover opposed any kind of relief for the unemployed or their families. The government, he thought, should do nothing to damage Americans' 'initiative and 'rugged individualism'. Later, Hoover approved some expenditures for seed and for animal feed, but vetoed any proposals to help the cold, the starving, or the unemployed. Hoover was above all
determined to balance the federal budget and he was certain that nature (and economic problems) would eventually run its course and that his 'hands off' (laissez-faire) economic policy would prove to be the proper government response to the depression.
Between the crash of '29 and the presidential election of 1932, however, there was no visible improvement in the economy. Consequently, Hoover's defeat in the upcoming 1932 election was preordained. That's what happened; Franklin Delano Roosevelt
became president.
FDR and Hoover had diametrically opposed views with regard to the federal government's role vis-Ã -vis the national economy and the depression. Once elected FDR immediately launched his various (alphabet soup-like) 'New Deal' programs: they
included the NRA (to deal with economic planning, wages and working conditions, child and women's labor, etc.), the CWA and the WPA (to provide jobs); the AAA (to deal with farm problems); the CCC (to provide jobs related to environmental protection, tree planting, etc.); the PWA and the TWA (to build dams - thereby creating jobs, electricity, water for irrigation, flood controls, etc.). He also created the RFC, the FHA, the FCA,
the NYA, etc., etc. FDR was unafraid to create a government agency to deal with a problem. 'If one approach fails (frequently the case)', he would say, 'We'll try another.'
'The unemployed', he maintained, are not bums! They are victims of an economy over which they have no control.' (A 1933 congressional investigation - a la Enron, Anderson, et al) indicated that the crash had to a considerable extent been generated by 'wheeling-dealing' brokers, bankers, financiers, corporate managers and their pyramiding
schemes, mergers, etc.). FDR's role model cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, had said earlier that it was the government's responsibility to protect those who were unable to protect
themselves. FDR, in turn, said something similar, using different words: 'It is not the government's duty to further enrich those who already have much, but, rather, to assist
those who have little.' FDR's words resonated with most Americans. They re-elected him again, again, and again. The Republicans soon recognized that FDR and his Democratic 'New Deal' programs were basically anathema to what Republicans stood
for (small federal government, low taxes, etc.), and they began fighting FDR and his programs (the Democratic-Republican fight that FDR started continues to this day.), but FDR won most of the battles because he always enjoyed great majorities in both houses of congress and eventually he also had a friendly Supreme Court - because he personally made a total of 9 appointments to the court.
There is much more to say about this book, about FDR's struggle with those 9 old men of the Supreme Court, about the repeal of Prohibition, about the rise of organized crime,
etc., -- but you get the idea. My final word: Lewis is a delightful writer and the material is fascinating!
Rating: 4
Summary: Written when it happened.
Comment: The best thing about this book is that unlike most other ones about the depression it was written by someone who experienced it at the time they experienced it - 1939. Spanning 1929 to 1939 it gives you a you-were-there feeling.
Most of the political commentary is just matter-of-fact with very little bias. Many depression books seem to be left-leaning and written by authors with political agendas, not this one. The fact is that many things actually were very corrupt in the years leading up to the depression.
Allen obviously liked FDR very much and yet he still always countered accolades for him with opposing opinions and even agrees with them at times.
This is not a hard-hitting expose' of the Depression years, but it is a highly informative book that is a great lesson in history.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Contemporary Account of the 1930's
Comment: Allen covers the period from September 3, 1929, to September 3, 1939. Interestingly, the first date is when the Bull Market reached its peak, and the last date is when England and France declared war on Germany. The book is an excellent contemporary account of the 1930's. The topics that Allen thought were noteworthy in 1939 are still noteworthy today. Anyone who reads this book should also read "Only Yesterday" which is Allen's account of the 1920's.
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Title: Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920's by Frederick Lewis Allen ISBN: 0060956658 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 25 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941 by Robert S. McElvaine ISBN: 0812923278 Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA) Pub. Date: 01 January, 1994 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: The Big Change: America Transforms Itself : 1900-1950 by Frederick Lewis Allen ISBN: 1560006390 Publisher: Transaction Publishers Pub. Date: 01 January, 1993 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: The Nervous Generation: American Thought, 1917-1930 by Roderick Nash ISBN: 0929587219 Publisher: Ivan R. Dee Publisher Pub. Date: 01 March, 1990 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel ISBN: 1565846567 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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