The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression

Shlaes, Amity

ISBN 10 : 0060936428 ISBN 13 : 9780060936426

Editeur : Harper Perennial, 2008

Synopsis

Book by Shlaes Amity

A propos du livre

Quatrième de couverture :

Challenging conventional history, Amity Shlaes offers a striking reinterpretation of the Great Depression that devastated America in the early part of the twentieth century. She shows how both Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt failed to understand the prosperity of the 1920s and heaped massive burdens on the country that more than offset the benefit of New Deal programs. From 1929 to 1940, federal intervention helped to make the Depression great by forgetting the men and women who sought to help themselves.

In this illuminating work of history, Shlaes follows the struggles of those now forgotten people, from a family of butchers in Brooklyn who dealt a stunning blow to the New Deal, to Bill W., who founded Alcoholics Anonymous, and Father Divine, a black cult leader. She takes a fresh look at the great scapegoats of the period, from Andrew Mellon to Sam Insull of Chicago. Finally, she traces the mounting agony of the New Dealers themselves. Authoritative, original, and utterly engrossing, The Forgotten Man reveals how those dark years shaped both current political challenges and the strong national character that helps Americans to confront them.

'That rare thing - an original, readable, compelling book about economic depression and how politicians can make things worse. The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes is a counterintuitive study of the Wall Street Crash and how politics turned chaos into crisis.' The Times

'Her New History of the Great Depression combines the lively narrative style of a first-rate journalist with the careful scholarship of a born historian. But her book is much more than an enjoyable narrative. It is a highly original reinterpretation that turns the received wisdom about the Depression on its head.' Sunday Telegraph

'The Forgotten Man is an engaging read and a welcome corrective to the popular view of Roosevelt and his New Deal... illuminating' Financial Times

'With the precision of an economist, a historian's sense of the enduring and a journalist's ear for language, she deftly parries the claims of FDR fans and defenders. She details Herbert Hoover's complicity in his successor's flawed perception of one of America's darkest hours. The Forgotten Man will stand the test of time.' Washington Times

Revue de presse :

“Amity Shlaes is among the most brilliant of the young writers who are transforming American financial journalism.” (Paul Johnson, author of Modern Times)

“I could not put this book down. Ms. Shlaes timely chronicle of a fascinating era reads like a novel and brings a new perspective on political villains and heros―few of whom turn out to be as good or bad as history would have us believe.” (Arthur Levitt)

“Americans need what Shlaes has brilliantly supplied, a fresh appraisal of what the New Deal did and did not accomplish.” (George F. Will)

“The Forgotten Man is an incisive and controversial history of the Great Depression that challenges much of the received wisdom.” (Harold Evans, author of The American Century and They Made America)

“The Forgotten Man offers an understanding of the era’s politics and economics that may be unprecedented in its clarity.” (Mark Helprin)

“Shlaes’s account of The Great Depression goes beyond the familiar arguments of liberals and conservatives.” (William Kristol, Editor of The Weekly Standard)

“Amity Shlaes’s fast-paced review of the [Depression] helps enormously in putting it all in perspective.” (Paul Volcker)

“The Forgotten Man is an epic and wholly original retelling of a dramatic and crucial era. There are many sides to the 1930’s story, and this is the one that has largely been lost to history. Thanks to Amity Shlaes, now it’s been re-found.” (Peggy Noonan)

“Entertaining, illuminating, and exceedingly fair. . . . A rich, wonderfully original, and extremely textured history of an important time. (The American Spectator)

“A well-written and stimulating account of the 1930s and its often dubious orthodoxies. . . . Ms. Shlaes rightly reminds us of the harmful effect of Rooseveltian activism and class-warfare rhetoric.” (The Wall Street Journal)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Harper Perennial
• Date d'édition: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0060936428
• ISBN 13: 9780060936426
• Reliure: Livre broché
• Nombre de pages: 512