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A highly readable synthesis. . . . Parrish is particularly adept at explaining the rise of 'the consumer culture' and its relationship to state power and social/intellectual trends.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A brilliant book for any student of US history between the wars.
This was required reading for my uni course about this period. The book is densely packed with factual and chronological information about the period, and covers all aspects of life in the US. The book avoids the stroytelling style adopted by some American writers, while providing useful comment that really advances your thinking about the period and the attitudes and actions of those who had a part to play in the development of the US as a world power. It covers everything from politics to big business, the development of the film industry to Prohibition and racism. Really comprehensive and (almost) a one-stop shop for the period.
Very VERY much recommended!
This was required reading for my uni course about this period. The book is densely packed with factual and chronological information about the period, and covers all aspects of life in the US. The book avoids the stroytelling style adopted by some American writers, while providing useful comment that really advances your thinking about the period and the attitudes and actions of those who had a part to play in the development of the US as a world power. It covers everything from politics to big business, the development of the film industry to Prohibition and racism. Really comprehensive and (almost) a one-stop shop for the period.
Very VERY much recommended!
Format:Paperback
An excellent introduction to US history between the two WW. The Twenties and Thirties are two very different periods in American life, so the two halves of the book are necessarily very different both with regard to the material presented and the way it is presented.
The first half deals with the Roaring Twenties, which was a decades of wild innovation in many fields, including the way people conducted their own life. This part of the book in fact focuses a lot on the way life changed, how it was different from the previous decades, in particular with regards to the new consuming society. Because of the focus on the changes, not much is said about the actual daily routine, which I'd have liked to know more about, but it was very interesting regardless. The radio, the car, various tools for the housekeeping, electricity, a lot of what we take for granted today first entered people's life during the Twenties.
Social issues are also touched, if in an essential manner: the new woman, immigration, the way race was dealt with (in a new way, in many respects), and also how some ideas stubbornly tried to remain attached to the past (the Scopes trial, the KKK, Prohibition). The Twenties were certainly years of huge contradictions.
A good chunk of the book is devoted to the personalities that shaped the decade, people like Ford, Harding, Rockfeller. They are presented both as contributors to a changing world and real people with their own personality.
The political and economical life of the nation is covered, but it looks like just one of the many aspects of the decade.
The second half of the book deals with the Great Depression. It is obviously very different from the first, not only because the Thirties' mood was so vastly different from the Twenties', but also because the author focuses on different matters.
Here, the political and economical life of the nation takes over, focusing on the huge personality of president Roosevelt and his political action. The way the Depression spread over the country is seen with the eyes of the politician first of all, then with those of people living it, and suffering for it. Still the author's attention is always ultimately on people, so, even following the action of the government step by step, describing bills and agencies created to contrast the Depression (the WPA, the CIO and the like) what the book is about is always people in the end.
There's a lot more to know about the Twenties and Thirties, still this is an excellent starting point.
The first half deals with the Roaring Twenties, which was a decades of wild innovation in many fields, including the way people conducted their own life. This part of the book in fact focuses a lot on the way life changed, how it was different from the previous decades, in particular with regards to the new consuming society. Because of the focus on the changes, not much is said about the actual daily routine, which I'd have liked to know more about, but it was very interesting regardless. The radio, the car, various tools for the housekeeping, electricity, a lot of what we take for granted today first entered people's life during the Twenties.
Social issues are also touched, if in an essential manner: the new woman, immigration, the way race was dealt with (in a new way, in many respects), and also how some ideas stubbornly tried to remain attached to the past (the Scopes trial, the KKK, Prohibition). The Twenties were certainly years of huge contradictions.
A good chunk of the book is devoted to the personalities that shaped the decade, people like Ford, Harding, Rockfeller. They are presented both as contributors to a changing world and real people with their own personality.
The political and economical life of the nation is covered, but it looks like just one of the many aspects of the decade.
The second half of the book deals with the Great Depression. It is obviously very different from the first, not only because the Thirties' mood was so vastly different from the Twenties', but also because the author focuses on different matters.
Here, the political and economical life of the nation takes over, focusing on the huge personality of president Roosevelt and his political action. The way the Depression spread over the country is seen with the eyes of the politician first of all, then with those of people living it, and suffering for it. Still the author's attention is always ultimately on people, so, even following the action of the government step by step, describing bills and agencies created to contrast the Depression (the WPA, the CIO and the like) what the book is about is always people in the end.
There's a lot more to know about the Twenties and Thirties, still this is an excellent starting point.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Thorough and balanced history
10 Aug 2000
Format:Paperback
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.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Harding to Pearl Harbor - quite an era
8 July 2006
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Excellent introduction to two critical decades in US history
16 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
An excellent introduction to US history between the two WW. The Twenties and Thirties are two very different periods in American life, so the two halves of the book are necessarily very different both with regard to the material presented and the way it is presented.
The first half deals with the Roaring Twenties, which was a decades of wild innovation in many fields, including the way people conducted their own life. This part of the book in fact focuses a lot on the way life changed, how it was different from the previous decades, in particular with regards to the new consuming society. Because of the focus on the changes, not much is said about the actual daily routine, which I'd have liked to know more about, but it was very interesting regardless. The radio, the car, various tools for the housekeeping, electricity, a lot of what we take for granted today first entered people's life during the Twenties.
Social issues are also touched, if in an essential manner: the new woman, immigration, the way race was dealt with (in a new way, in many respects), and also how some ideas stubbornly tried to remain attached to the past (the Scopes trial, the KKK, Prohibition). The Twenties were certainly years of huge contradictions.
A good chunk of the book is devoted to the personalities that shaped the decade, people like Ford, Harding, Rockfeller. They are presented both as contributors to a changing world and real people with their own personality.
The political and economical life of the nation is covered, but it looks like just one of the many aspects of the decade.
The second half of the book deals with the Great Depression. It is obviously very different from the first, not only because the Thirties' mood was so vastly different from the Twenties', but also because the author focuses on different matters.
Here, the political and economical life of the nation takes over, focusing on the huge personality of president Roosevelt and his political action. The way the Depression spread over the country is seen with the eyes of the politician first of all, then with those of people living it, and suffering for it. Still the author's attention is always ultimately on people, so, even following the action of the government step by step, describing bills and agencies created to contrast the Depression (the WPA, the CIO and the like) what the book is about is always people in the end.
There's a lot more to know about the Twenties and Thirties, still this is an excellent starting point.
The first half deals with the Roaring Twenties, which was a decades of wild innovation in many fields, including the way people conducted their own life. This part of the book in fact focuses a lot on the way life changed, how it was different from the previous decades, in particular with regards to the new consuming society. Because of the focus on the changes, not much is said about the actual daily routine, which I'd have liked to know more about, but it was very interesting regardless. The radio, the car, various tools for the housekeeping, electricity, a lot of what we take for granted today first entered people's life during the Twenties.
Social issues are also touched, if in an essential manner: the new woman, immigration, the way race was dealt with (in a new way, in many respects), and also how some ideas stubbornly tried to remain attached to the past (the Scopes trial, the KKK, Prohibition). The Twenties were certainly years of huge contradictions.
A good chunk of the book is devoted to the personalities that shaped the decade, people like Ford, Harding, Rockfeller. They are presented both as contributors to a changing world and real people with their own personality.
The political and economical life of the nation is covered, but it looks like just one of the many aspects of the decade.
The second half of the book deals with the Great Depression. It is obviously very different from the first, not only because the Thirties' mood was so vastly different from the Twenties', but also because the author focuses on different matters.
Here, the political and economical life of the nation takes over, focusing on the huge personality of president Roosevelt and his political action. The way the Depression spread over the country is seen with the eyes of the politician first of all, then with those of people living it, and suffering for it. Still the author's attention is always ultimately on people, so, even following the action of the government step by step, describing bills and agencies created to contrast the Depression (the WPA, the CIO and the like) what the book is about is always people in the end.
There's a lot more to know about the Twenties and Thirties, still this is an excellent starting point.
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