Breadlines. Hoovervilles. Unprecedented poverty. The Great Depression brought “The Land of Opportunity” to the brink of revolutionary upheaval. In response, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal redefined the government’s role in promoting the general welfare of its citizens. Now, at a time of increasing economic anxiety—with ongoing debates over government intervention and regulation—what can we learn by looking back at the most pervasive domestic crisis in U.S. history?

A comprehensive encyclopedia of the 1930s in the United States, showing how the Depression affected every aspect of American life.

In two volumes, The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Thematic Encyclopedia captures the full scope of a defining era of American history. Like no other available reference, it offers a comprehensive portrait of the nation from the Crash of 1929 to the onset of World War II, exploring the impact of the Depression and the New Deal on all aspects of American life.

The book features hundreds of alphabetically organized entries in sections focusing on economics, politics, social ramifications, the arts, and ethnic issues. With an extraordinary range of primary sources integrated throughout , The Great Depression and the New Deal is the new cornerstone resource on a historic moment that is casting a shadow on our own unsettled times.

Features
• Over 650 alphabetically organized entries on the impact of the Depression and the New Deal on the nation’s economy, politics, society, arts, and minorities
• 45 contributors at the forefront of current scholarship on 1930s America and the continuing aftershocks of that tumultuous time
• Primary documents integrated throughout, including Woody Guthrie songs, writings and speeches from Huey Long and Father Coughlin, murals by Diego Rivera, excerpts from The Grapes of Wrath, and contemporary newspaper articles
• Illustrations providing definitive images of the Depression/New Deal era, including federally funded work such as Dorothea Lange’s photography for the Farm Security Administration
• A comprehensive chronology that marks the origins, course, and consequences of the Depression and the New Deal
• Bibliographic listings for each entry and a comprehensive index of people, places, events, and key terms

Highlights
• Covers all aspects of 1930s American life as impacted by the Depression and the government’s response to it, with unmatched authority and comprehensiveness
• Organized thematically to make it easy for students and other readers to find information on specific topics
• Includes entries on minority populations during the Depression—an area not usually examined in such depth
• Looks at the role of New Deal programs in the lives of people through the arts

Daniel Leab is professor of history at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ. His published works include I Was a Communist For the F.B.I.: The Unhappy Life and Times of Matt Cvetic and Orwell Subverted: The CIA and the Filming of Animal Farm. He received the John Commford Award from the New York State Labor History Association in 1997.

Kenneth J. Bindas, PhD, is professor and chair in the Department of History at Kent State University, Kent, OH. His published works include The People Remember the South: Oral History and the Depression Era South and Swing, That Modern Sound: The Cultural Context of Swing Music in America, 1935 - 1947.

Alan Harris Stein, PhD, is associate director of the Consortium for Oral History Educators at the Martha Ross Center for Oral History, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. He also serves as an oral history consultant and is chair of the Oral History Association Education Committee, specializing in the field of oral history as an educational methodology. He was a contributor to Seeking Higher Ground: The Hurricane the Hurricane Katrina Crisis, Race, and Public Policy Reader. He received the Society of American Archivists' Spotlight Award in 2007.

Justin Corfield is a teacher of history and international studies at Geelong Grammar School. He is the author of Encyclopedia of Singapore and Greenwood's The History of Vietnam.

Steven L. Danver, PhD, is instructor of history at National University, La Jolla, CA, and managing editor of Journal of the West.

Reviews
"Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; graduate students."—Choice

"...this work is a good choice to help students begin research on this era."—School Library Journal

"The Great Depression and the New Deal: a Thematic Encyclopedia could find a home in either reference or circulation, depending on need and the nature of the collection. It should also appeal to a variety of libraries including high school, public, and undergraduate. Students will find these two volumes a valuable resource for completing short assignments as well as getting a start on larger papers. At the same time, general readers will turn to them to get facts and perspective on one of the most trying and difficult eras in American history."—Against the Grain