The New Deal: America's Response to the Great Depression(Problems in American History)

In this concise and lively volume, Ronald Edsforth presents a fresh synthesis of the most critical years in twentieth-century American history. The book describes the collapse of American capitalism in the early 1930s, and the subsequent remaking of the US economy during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. It is written for a new generation of readers for whom the Great Depression is a distant historical event.The New Deal begins with a careful explanation of the economic history of the Great Depression, and the widespread breakdown of law and order that resulted from four years of collapsing incomes, mass unemployment, and poverty. A compelling picture emerges of the mass misery and fearful social disintegration of the Hoover years, and the enormous enthusiasm Americans initially brought to the programs of the New Deal. Edsforth places the New Deal in the context of its own time, as a response to both the failed policies of the Hoover administration and the rise of fascism overseas. Students and general readers alike will understand and appreciate the swift and effective actions of the Roosevelt administration that reversed the Depression and alleviated human suffering. With notable clarity, Edsforth shows how New Deal reforms created greater economic security and fostered movements for social justice.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures. Acknowledgments. Introduction: The New Deal in Historical Perspective. 1. From New Era Prosperity to a World in Depression. 2. The Politics of the Great Depression. 3. Why the Old Deal Failed. 4. America Impoverished. 5. Out of Disorder, A New Deal. 6. A New Deal in One Hundred Days. 7. The Problem of Recovery. 8. Reconstructing Capitalism. 9. Democratic Reforms. 10. The End of the New Deal. Epilogue: The New Deal's Legacy. Appendix: A Partial Chronology of Civil Unrest and Financial Panic, The Winter of 1932-33. Notes. Index.

About the Author :
Ronald W. Edsforth is Visiting Associate Professor of History at Dartmouth College. He has served as Chief Historical Consultant on the PBS documentary America on Wheels, and is the author of Class Conflict and Cultural Consensus: The Making of a Mass Consumer Society in Flint, (Michigan, 1986). His other publications include Popular Culture and Political Change in Modern America (ed., with Larry Bennett, 1991), and Autowork (ed., with Robert Asher, 1995).

Review :
"Edsforth has written an excellent one-volume study of the New Deal that will be useful for college students and general readers" CHOICE "Edsforth has done an admirable job of attempting to maintian a balanced appraoch." The Historian "From this brilliant description of the New Deal's response to the Great Depression and its transforming commitment to social justice and economic security for all Americans, one understands why Franklin Roosevelt is 'the man of the century'." -- William J. vanden Heuvel, President, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute "This lucid and insightful narrative brings us back to some essential truths that need to be retold about the human tragedy of the 1930s, the greatness of Franklin Roosevelt, and the achievements of his New Deal." - Michael E. Parrish, Professor of History, University of California, San Diego