New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Michael Hiltzik tells the epic story of the New Deal through the outsized personalities of the people who fought for it, opposed it, and benefited from it, rendering vital lessons for our own time.
As America struggles with an economic debacle akin to the Great Depression, nothing could be timelier than an authoritative account of the New Deal, masterfully written by Michael Hiltzik, author of the acclaimed history of the Hoover Dam, Colossus.
In this richly peopled, vividly rendered narrative, Hiltzik describes how the urgent short-term relief measures of Franklin Roosevelt's Hundred Days evolved into a transformative concept of the federal role in American life. Rather than the product of a single ideology, the New Deal emerged from the clash of ideas held by advisors from very different backgrounds. With historical and psychological insight, Hiltzik sheds light on the lives of the gargantuan characters who fought for and against it: Herbert Hoover, whose own administration gave birth to many of the programs that would become part of the New Deal; General Hugh Johnson, the West Pointer whose pugnacious leadership of the National Recovery Administration symbolized the New Deal for millions of Americans; Harry Hopkins, whose closeness to Roosevelt earned him the moniker "deputy president"; and many other fascinating figures. What emerges is a saga of how FDR managed to recast the federal government into something that still inspires: a unifying structure with the concept of social justice at its heart. Title Info. Dedication. Quote's (Franklin Roosevelt) Prologue:The Long Winter
Part One: The Hundred Days. Chapter 1. 1. "Action Now"
Chapter 2. A Good Crisis
Chapter 3. A River Out of Eden
Chapter 4. Wall Street in the Dock
Chapter 5. Agony on the Land
Part Two: The New Deal Rising. Chapter 6. The General
Chapter 7. The Gold Standard on the Booze
Chapter 8. Harry and Harold
Chapter 9. So Many Sinners
Chapter 10. The Little Red House
Chapter 11. Pied Pipers
Chapter 12. The Cornerstone
Chapter 13. Black Monday
Chapter 14. Federal One
Chapter 15. The Most Forgotten Man
Part Three: Return to Earth . Chapter 16. Backlash
Chapter 17. Nine Old Men
Chapter 18. Roosevelt's Recession
Chapter 19. Purgatory
Epilogue
"Detailed and vividly written-destined to be the standard history for decades to come."
"Makes a fascinating reading for a nation facing many of the same problems it confronted, and conquered, eighty years ago."
"Michael Hiltzik…gets credit for hitting the timing jackpot. Just as President Obama is once again attempting to make the case for government action, Hiltzik's latest book, The New Deal: A Modern History, is arriving in book stores."
"An important addition to our understanding of a significant period in recent American history…Traber Burns' narration is clear, even, and emphatic. He makes an avalanche of events and dates easily accessible to the listener. Burns seems to draw some of his inspiration from the great radio announcers of the era."
"A sweeping, lively survey… [written] with panache and skill… A timely, well-executed overview of the program that laid the foundation for the modern progressive state."
