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Overview
"On October 29, 1929, better known as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed, abruptly ending a decade of prosperity and catapulting the United States into the Great Depression, arguably the worst economic crisis the country has ever experienced. During the years that followed, until the U.S. entry into World War II in 1941, unemployment was at an all-time high, hundreds of banks foreclosed, and a sense of hopelessness pervaded the nation. It was only when America was drawn into the war that the United States finally emerged from the Great Depression." With updated narratives and testimonies, The Great Depression, Updated Edition, a volume in Facts On File's acclaimed Eyewitness History series, provides hundreds of firsthand accounts of the period - from memoirs, letters, speeches, and newspaper accounts, which illustrate how historical events appeared to those who lived through them. In addition to the firsthand accounts, each chapter provides an introductory essay and a chronology of events. The book also includes excerpts from such critical documents as President Herbert Hoover's 1931 State of the Union message to Congress, the 1934 treaty between the United States and Cuba, and the Social Security Act, as well as capsule biographies of more than 200 key figures, a new appendix with 11 graphs and tables, a revised introduction, notes, a bibliography, an index, and 22 new black-and-white photographs.Compiles a history of the Great Depression, including the events that led up to it and the New Deal that followed, with chronologies, personal narratives, and documents.
Synopsis
In this update of the 1996 edition, a freelance scholar presents a well-referenced volume on a pivotal period in US and world history. In a volume with many eyewitness accounts, capsule biographies of key figures, poignant period photos, and a new appendix of statistical tables and figures on employment and other trends during the Great Depression, he traces factors leading to the 1929 stock market crash to the economic upswing triggered by World War II . Excerpts from two dozen relevant documents, including President Hoover's and Roosevelt's State of the Union addresses, and the Social Security Act (1935), are included. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Mary E. Heslin - VOYA
The format of this new edition of Burg's analysis of the Great Depression parallels the first, originally published in 1996. The book is divided into seven chapters, each covering a specific timeframe beginning with causative events preceding the crisis (1919-1928) and ending with the emerging Second World War (1939-1941.) Each chapter opens with a narrative summary and analysis of the period, followed by a chronological listing of significant events and then by primary-source contemporary quotations from private citizens, politicians, radio broadcasts, and more. There are three appendixes: selected documents, biographies of major personalities, and graphs and charts. Interspersed throughout the text are approximately one hundred black-and-white photographs, which together with the quotations, help give readers a sense of everyday depression-era life. Many of the photos are evocative-about two dozen were added for this new edition, and the narrative and quotation sections enlarged, for example, to include segments on the racehorse Seabiscuit, as well as to expand the depression experiences of women and African Americans. Burg's prose is clear, but it is difficult to imagine the teen who would read this book for pleasure. The information density is high, but in a number of areas the narrative summaries presuppose a background knowledge that few teens are likely to have acquired. The book will be of most value to in-depth researchers, but given its high price and the other many resources available on the depression, this volume would seem to be an optional purchase for school and public libraries. 2005, Facts on File, 444p.; Index. Photos. Charts. Biblio. Chronology. Appendix., PLB $75..Ages 15 to Adult.
Editorials
VOYA
The format of this new edition of Burg's analysis of the Great Depression parallels the first, originally published in 1996. The book is divided into seven chapters, each covering a specific timeframe beginning with causative events preceding the crisis (1919-1928) and ending with the emerging Second World War (1939-1941.) Each chapter opens with a narrative summary and analysis of the period, followed by a chronological listing of significant events and then by primary-source contemporary quotations from private citizens, politicians, radio broadcasts, and more. There are three appendixes: selected documents, biographies of major personalities, and graphs and charts. Interspersed throughout the text are approximately one hundred black-and-white photographs, which together with the quotations, help give readers a sense of everyday depression-era life. Many of the photos are evocative-about two dozen were added for this new edition, and the narrative and quotation sections enlarged, for example, to include segments on the racehorse Seabiscuit, as well as to expand the depression experiences of women and African Americans. Burg's prose is clear, but it is difficult to imagine the teen who would read this book for pleasure. The information density is high, but in a number of areas the narrative summaries presuppose a background knowledge that few teens are likely to have acquired. The book will be of most value to in-depth researchers, but given its high price and the other many resources available on the depression, this volume would seem to be an optional purchase for school and public libraries. 2005, Facts on File, 444p.; Index. Photos. Charts. Biblio. Chronology. Appendix., PLB $75..Ages 15 to Adult.—Mary E. Heslin