The Great Depression, by David A. Shannon (TPB, 1960, $2)
"What was it like, in 1930, to stand in a cold rain for hours to receive a handout of a loaf of bread? What did a destitute family actually do when city relief funds gave out? How did they survive? Cold rows of statistics do not answer questions like these. This Book does."
As bad as this recession has been, with so many people unemployed, homes foreclosed, and food pantries overwhelmed, still, this is nothing like The Depression. Most of us take social safety nets for granted. We have always had FDIC insurance on our savings accounts. We have always known food stamps, unemployment, social security and welfare would be there to fall back on when there was no other option. I am not saying this recession wasn't painful. I can look into people's eyes and see the fear. Even with the recession supposedly "over" and the housing market stabilizing, people are still scared. Especially people in Rochester, now that Kodak has filed for bankruptcy, and the NY State prescription coverage has been massively cut. Even with all this, today is still nothing like The Depression of 1929-1941. Read this book and you will be shocked at how truly bad life was here. And to think, just before this the economy was sweeping to new heights. How would you have coped? Would life ever be the same? For most people who lived through this awful time the answer was no, never.
Look for this on the new non-fiction table, avail. 3/14 (later, Amer. History)
