The Great Depression · America 1929-1941

One of the classic studies of the Great Depression, featuring a new introduction by the author with insights into the economic crises of 1929 today. In the 25 years since its publication, critics scholars have praised historian Robert McElvaine's sweeping, authoritative history of the Great Depression as one of the best most readable studies of the era. Combining clear-eyed insight into the machinations of politicians economists who struggled to revive the battered economy, personal stories from the average people who were hardest hit by an economic crisis beyond their control an evocative depiction of the popular culture of the decade, he paints an epic picture of an America brought to its knees--but also brought together by people's widely shared plight. A new introduction draws striking parallels between the roots of the Great Depression the economic meltdown that followed in the wake of the credit crisis of 2008. He also examines the resurgence of anti-regulation free market ideology, beginning in the Reagan era, argues that some economists politicians revised history ignored the lessons of the Depression era.--From the Trade Paperback edition