Anxious Decades: America in Prosperity and Depression 1920-1941

by Michael E. Parrish

Book Overview

In the convulsive years between 1920 and 941, Americans were first dazzled by unprecedented economic prosperity and then beset by the worst depression in their history. It was the era of Model T's, rising incomes, scientific management, electricity, talking movies, and advertising techniques that sold a seemingly endless stream of goods. But is was also a time of grave social conflict and human suffering.

The Crash forced Hoover, and then...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393311341
• ISBN13: 9780393311341
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Anxious Decades, America in Prosperity & Depression

Historical Documentary - USA in 20s & 30s Well written, excellent insights to cause and government response

Harding to Pearl Harbor - quite an era

Anxious Decades is a volume in the Norton Twentieth Century America Series that addresses the decades of the twenties and the thirties. Michael E. Parrish has taken on the challenging task of giving us a consice volume addressing all of the societal, political, and economic trends that occured during these vastly different decades. The 1920's, known as the "roaring twenties" were indeed years of Prosperity and good times - the era of the flappers, the rising stock markets, the rebirth of the KKK, and rising hemlines. Parrish devotes the first half of his tome to these years. He does an admirable job of describing the societal changes that America encountered during the decade, and a good job of describing the economic progression through between the end of the Wilson administration and the great crash of 1929. He does not address the political scene quite as much as the other two, but that can be easily blamed on the administrations that were in force during the years - Harding & "Silent Cal" Coolidge, who once famously quipped that the business of America is business. The second half of the volume focuses on the years between the Stock Market crash and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I found this portion of the book to be much more enjoyable than the first (probably because I am very interested in the era of Roosevelt). I feel that Parrish does an outstanding job in describing the economic devasation felt by Americans of most classes (except, of course, some of the super rich), and how that translated into the social ills that befell the nation in the 1930's. He also delves much more into the political realm in this portion of his work, since Roosevelt's new deal directly impacted so many Americans during these years. His chapter on the Intellectuals and the Depression was most fascinating, and a valuable addition to my knowledge about this class of people during these years. Overall, Parrish has provided us with a pretty good volume describing these years; he does not go into great detail for most individual items, since this is really a work that is supposed to be a high level overview of these two crucial decades in American History.

Thorough and balanced history

Michael Parrish, who teaches at San Diego State University, has written a thorough work of history for the layperson. He covers the political, social and - to a lesser degree - the economic landscape of America during the decades of the 1920's and 1930's. Where many works of history live and die on issues political, Parrish seeks a balance with a strong dose of social history.This is particularly important when writing about these two decades. The Roaring Twenties are inherently a span of time consumed with social matters; from industrialization, commercialization and the burgeoning media industry. The thirties, though dominated by the policy and personality of Roosevelt, is still a decade about the relationship between government policy and its effects on the lives of people. Parrish covers this well. He does not skirt political matters, however, and well over half of the book is devoted to FDR's New Deal. At times his treatment of the agencies, policies and personalities of the New Deal become weighty and laborious, it is still a useful book for New Deal/Great Depression history.The book is well-written, though not highly engaging. Recommended for students and scholars. It includes period photos and cartoons.