Why The New Deal Matters

Name: Why The New Deal Matters
Brand: HighBridge Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Eric Rauchway
ISBN: 9781696604680

Author: Eric Rauchway

Narrator: Peter Lerman

Unabridged: 5 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Kalorama

Published: 04/06/2021

Categories: Nonfiction, History, Us History, Modern History, Political Science, Public Policy

Synopsis

The greatest peaceable expression of common purpose in US history, the New Deal altered Americans' relationship with politics, economics, and one another in ways that continue to resonate today. No matter where you look in America, there is likely a building or bridge built through New Deal initiatives. If you have taken out a small business loan from the federal government or drawn unemployment, you can thank the New Deal.

While certainly flawed in many aspects—the New Deal was implemented by a Democratic Party still beholden to the segregationist South for its majorities in Congress and the Electoral College—the New Deal was instated at a time of mass unemployment and the rise of fascistic government models and functioned as a bulwark of American democracy in hard times. This book looks at how this legacy, both for good and ill, informs the current debates around governmental responses to crises.

About Eric Rauchway

Eric Rauchway is a distinguished historian and expert on the Progressive and New Deal eras at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of several acclaimed books on the subject, including The Money Makers, The Great Depression and the New Deal, and Blessed Among Nations, and has contributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the New Republic, the Los Angeles Times, Dissent, and the American Prospect. He lives in Davis, California.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Wick on July 24, 2023

The New Deal was fundamental to the success of the United States. This was an okay book about the New Deal era policies put in place but I found it a little lack luster with the details and the overall larger picture. We get a lot of stuff about the Bonus Army, the setting for the New Deal polices, t......more

Goodreads review by Poptart19 (the name’s ren) on April 10, 2021

3.5 stars An engaging, well researched read that discusses the origins, successes, & failures of the New Deal. It also applies how the policies & long term effects have shaped the current fabric of US society, & what lessons we might take from it to make progress addressing current issues such as cli......more

Goodreads review by Joseph on August 07, 2023

A solid, interesting book about the New Deal from one of the leading scholars in that field. Instead of a chronological narrative, ER offers illustrations of the New Deal's impact and legacies by going from place to place in the United States. He looks at New Deal programs' effects in Indian territo......more

Goodreads review by Charlotte on August 09, 2021

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoy reading books about American history and politics and the New Deal is something that is often mentioned. This book came to me at the right time as it’s a short overview of the various impacts of......more

Goodreads review by Brandon on May 03, 2021

Rauchway does something that I think is hard for a history book to do: make the New Deal engaging to read about. There is a lot here to take away; he makes a very compelling argument that the New Deal is all around us and that it has never really gone away. Where a lot of history of the New Deal doe......more