Historical Dictionary of the Great Depression, 1929-1940

by Olson, James Stuart

• ISBN13: 9780313306181
• ISBN10: 0313306184
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-09-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

Today when most Americans think of the Great Depression, they imagine desperate men standing in bread lines, bootleggers hustling illegal booze to secrecy-shrouded speakeasies, FDR smiling, or Judy Garland skipping along the yellow brick road. Hard times have become an abstraction; but this was the era when the federal government became a major player in the national economy and Americans bestowed the responsibility for maintaining full employment and stable prices on Congress and the White House, making the Depression years a major watershed in U.S. history. In more than 500 essays, this ready reference brings those hard times to life, covering diplomacy, popular culture, intellectual life, economic problems, public policy issues, and prominent individuals of the era.

Author Biography

JAMES S. OLSON is Professor of History and Department Chair at Sam Houston State University. He is the author of more than forty books, including Historical Dictionary of the 1970s (Greenwood, 1999), Historical Dictionary of the 1960s (Greenwood, 1999), and Historical Dictionary of the 1950s (Greenwood, 2000).

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
The Dictionary	1	(322)
Appendix A: Acronyms	323	(4)
Appendix B: Chronology	327	(12)
General Bibliography	339	(4)
Index	343