This book analyzes and provokes thoughtful discussion about the ways in which the collapse of the American economy in 1929 and 1930 contributed to the onset of a global depression that caused widespread suffering, political instability, and grassroots organizing.

In the United States, the decade-long Great Depression called into question the viability of capitalism and strained democratic institutions as tens of millions of Americans sank into an abyss of poverty. On top of this catastrophe was a severe drought that turned much of the American Southwest and Midwest into a barren Dust Bowl. Throughout this trying decade, Americans sought to define themselves across regions and as citizens while engaging in debates over the meaning of democracy, the efficacy of capitalism, and the relationship of these two systems to one another. This volume tells the stories of the ordinary and extraordinary people who engaged in those debates. It explains the causes and consequences of the Great Depression, with attention to the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and emergence of a New Deal; social and cultural movements on the left and the right; and foreign affairs.

Exploring the circulation of transformative policies, ideas, and forces that continue to reverberate in the present day, this tightly presented narrative will be of interest to students of American history, and particularly to undergraduate readers desiring a concise and engaging overview of the decade.