The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Thematic Encyclopedia

Breadlines. Hoovervilles. Unprecedented poverty. The Great Depression brought “The Land of Opportunity” to the brink of revolutionary upheaval. In response, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal redefined the government’s role in promoting the general welfare of its citizens. Now, at a time of increasing economic anxiety—with ongoing debates over government intervention and regulation—what can we learn by looking back at the most pervasive domestic crisis in U.S. history?

In two volumes, The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Thematic Encyclopedia captures the full scope of a defining era of American history. Like no other available reference, it offers a comprehensive portrait of the nation from the Crash of 1929 to the onset of World War II, exploring the impact of the Depression and the New Deal on all aspects of American life.

The book features hundreds of alphabetically organized entries in sections focusing on economics, politics, social ramifications, the arts, and ethnic issues. With an extraordinary range of primary sources integrated throughout, The Great Depression and the New Deal is the new cornerstone resource on a historic moment that is casting a shadow on our own unsettled times.

Features and Highlights

• Over 650 alphabetically organized entries on the impact of the Depression and the New Deal on the nation’s economy, politics, society, arts, and minorities
• 45 contributors at the forefront of current scholarship on 1930s America and the continuing aftershocks of that tumultuous time
• Primary documents integrated throughout, including Woody Guthrie songs, writings and speeches from Huey Long and Father Coughlin, murals by Diego Rivera, excerpts from The Grapes of Wrath, and contemporary newspaper articles
• Illustrations providing definitive images of the Depression/New Deal era, including federally funded work such as Dorothea Lange’s photography for the Farm Security Administration
• A comprehensive chronology that marks the origins, course, and consequences of the Depression and the New Deal
• Bibliographic listings for each entry and a comprehensive index of people, places, events, and key terms
• Covers all aspects of 1930s American life as impacted by the Depression and the government’s response to it, with unmatched authority and comprehensiveness
• Organized thematically to make it easy for students and other readers to find information on specific topics
• Includes entries on minority populations during the Depression—an area not usually examined in such depth
• Looks at the role of New Deal programs in the lives of people through the arts

Reviews: The Great Depression and the New Deal

“Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; graduate students.”
– Choice

“…this work is a good choice to help students begin research on this era.”
– School Library Journal