The Great Depression and the New Deal
Explore the economic collapse and political upheaval of the Great Depression with this curated reading list on the New Deal. From Thomas E. Woods Jr.'s 'Meltdown' and Jim Powell's 'FDR's Folly' to classic fiction by John Steinbeck and Erskine Caldwell, discover essential books on 1930s America, economic history, and government policy.
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Meltdown
by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
Discusses the economic crisis, claiming that government regulation and manipulation caused the financial downturn in real estate and that further regulation and government bailouts will make the situation worse.
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Hard Times
by Studs Terkel
Receates the character and atmosphere of this dramatic era in a collage of recollections by both well-known and abscure Americans.
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FDR's Folly
by Jim Powell
A study of the Great Depression argues that Roosevelt's flawed economic policies had a profound and dangerous impact on America and that the New Deal actually prolonged the hardship rather than provided a lasting solution.
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In Dubious Battle
by John Steinbeck
Migratory workers strike against the landowners in California's apple country, led by Jim Nolan.
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Tobacco Road
by Erskine Caldwell
Jeeter Lester, a poor Georgia sharecropper, and his family struggle to get by, but when his son Dude is seduced and married by Jeeter's widowed sister, it starts a tragic chain of events.
