The Great Depression

by David A. Shannon (Editor)

Examines the Great Depression of 1929 as it affected the common people of America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

171 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1960

Reviews

[Diocletian]

Considering what we are now facing with the coronavirus pandemic and all of the comparisons to the Great Depression, I figured now would be better than ever to pick up this old volume I had been given from my grandparents about what they just were born into the tail-end of. And boy, was it interesting. I knew the Great Depression was bad, but hearing just how fully it crashed the US economy and collapsed millions of people's livelihoods was crazy-- and yet, even at the time, some people either denied its horrors and downplayed its severity, while those more educated and experienced decried the haphazard responses of different states reacting without centralized oversight in the early years. Sound familiar to today? This book took a viewpoint from the common person, using a combination of newspaper clippings, congressional hearing records, contemporary academic research, and social worker case notes from the time to try illustrating the struggles of people at the time, ranging from the poorest immigrants to the well-established upper-middle-class American well-to-do. It was definitely not a comprehensive historical narrative of the time; but for what it was, it was excellent, and has made me quite hopeful that we will-- most likely-- not sink to the despairing lows that American society did in the 1930s. One section, going over why a far-left revolution never took shape in the US, offers some startlingly still timely criticism and insight for the recently resurgent, but also recently humbled, American left to learn from as they look towards how to push progressive ideals post-Bernie, particularly in regards to his call for a "revolution." It is predominantly for the importance of that advice that I put it into my (very subjective) "Worldview Shaping" bookshelf.

[Greg Schloesser]

I have owned this book for many, many years and it got pushed further and further back on my "to read" shelf. Finally, I decided to take it off the shelf a travel back to this horrible time of our nation's history.

The author takes the approach of spotlighting this event by using old news stories and government reports. While it is organized into chapters, it feels disjointed and does not flow smoothly. The government reports in particular are somewhat sterile and often numbers-heavy. It is the personal stories that are sometimes jarring and tragic, conveying the feeling of hopelessness, fear and depression that permeated that era. While I understand the author's desire to present a wide range of reports, the personal stories are really the ones that have impact and demonstrate the experiences and desperation of the common man. The book would have been so much better had it concentrated on those personal stories. As is, it often reads like a university thesis.

I will be searching for a book on the topic that concentrates on these personal stories.

[Jerry Wall]

Series of stories and interviews and case histories of what went on after the crash of 1929.
the early 1930s were rough when my parents were growing up. the anguish lasted for years after
and affected children.

[Steven Groner]

A wonderful supplement to any serious study of the great depression. Mr. Shannon pulls many hard-to-find resources together and illustrates what individuals and families endured.

[Katherine Anderson]

Almost sounds like its happening all over again

[Debbie]

"The Great Depression" is made up of newspaper articles and transcripts of reports made at government committee hearings made during 1929-1934. There were also six case histories about the lives of "ordinary people" during the worst of the Great Depression and how they survived. Some articles were more formal than others, but this book gave a good idea of how the Great Depression affected people from every class and circumstance. This book didn't get into what caused the Great Depression or what was done on the national scale to get out of it except in how those things affected people on a personal scale. I found this book very interesting, and I'd highly recommend it.

Topics covered were unemployment numbers, wage decreases, ways attempted to earn money after a job was lost, relief measures by the government, malnourishment in children, vagrants and migratory workers, bank failures, stock drops, the fear of a violent revolt against the government, and how the depression affected the farmers, middle class, industrial workers, teachers, public schools, and college students.