A Secret Gift How One Man's Kindness--and a Trove of Letters--Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression

by Gup, Ted

• ISBN13: 9780143120001
• ISBN10: 014312000X
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-25
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

Originally published: New York: Penguin Press, c2010.

Author Biography

Ted Gup is the author of the bestseller The Book of Honor and of Nation of Secrets. He is a professor and chair of the journalism department at Emerson College. A former investigative reporter for The Washington Post and Time, he has also written for The New York Times, Newsweek, GQ, Slate, and Salon.com.

Table of Contents

A Christmas Carol
The Offer	p. 3
Mr. B. Virdot's Story: The Suitcase	p. 13
In Consideration of the White Collar Man
A Man of Means	p. 35
Blizzard	p. 50
Hello Bill	p. 60
Gassed	p. 70
Mr. B. Virdot's Story: The Promise	p. 78
The Bread of Tomorrow
Beginning Again	p. 87
Grief	p. 91
Bad Company:	p. 96
A Lynching	p. 104
Legacy of Lies	p. 115
Mr. B. Virdot's Story: The Crossing	p. 121
If I Would Accept Charity
Oppression	p. 135
Sooner Starve	p. 141
Dandelions and Pencils	p. 146
Shame	p. 149
The Seeds of Resentment	p. 152
Left Behind	p. 161
Gumption	p. 165
So Little for Women	p. 174
Mr. B. Virdot's Story: A Foreigner No Longer	p. 182
Families: The Crisis That Brought Them Closer
"As Good as the Best"	p. 200
The Pump	p. 206
Plantation	p. 213
Asylum	p. 224
Families: The Crisis That Pulled Them Apart
Black Hand Gang	p. 235
Defeated	p. 246
Nomad	p. 251
Mr. B. Virdot's Story: Betrayal	p. 258
An Opportunity to Help
A Dog Named Jack	p. 273
The Milk of Human Kindness	p. 277
"Too Big-Hearted"	p. 284
Shipmates	p. 289
Doctors	p. 293
Mr. B. Virdot's Story: A Second Gift, 1940	p. 297
A Merry and Joyful Christmas
The Doll	p. 312
A Special Time	p. 318
The Pony	p. 322
The Unexpected	p. 328
Mr. B. Virdot's Story: The Bridge	p. 332
True Circumstances
Final Reflections	p. 337
Epilogue: Canton Revisited	p. 340
Postscript	p. 347
Acknowledgments	p. 351
Author's Note	p. 354
Mr. B. Virdot: A Timeline	p. 355
Index	p. 360
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