Redeeming the Time: A People's History of the 1920s and the New Deal

This is a great book covering a dynamic period of American history. This is the last volume of a lifetime of work and investigation by Page Smith. I have a copy of every volume but I have not read them all. I have read this one in its entirety. It is very good, thorough and very informative. Mr. Smith has accomplished quite an achievement - a life time achievement. To read and study this entire series by Mr. Page Smith I concider the equivalent of a Master's Degree in American history. I intend to do just that. I applaud and thank you for your efforts Mr Smith. Books written by Richard Noble - The Hobo Philosopher: "Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.." "A Summer with Charlie" "A Little Something: Poetry and Prose" "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother"

I have read this entire series: 2494 A New Age Now Begins: Volume One, by Page Smith (read 28 Feb 1993) 2495 A New Age Now Begins: Volume Two, by Page Smith (read 6 Mar 1993) 2584 The Shaping of America: Volume Three, by Page Smith (read 24 Feb 1994) 2596 The Nation Comes of Age: Volume Four, by Page Smith (read 17 Apr 1994) 2649 Trial by Fire: A People's History of the Civil War and Reconstruction Volume Five, by Page Smith (read 25 Sep 1994) 2781 The Rise of Industrial America: A People's History of the Post-Reconstruction Era Volume Six, by Page Smith (read 4 Sep 1995) 2963 America Enters the World: A People's History of the Progressive Era and World War I Volume Seven, by Page Smith (read 8 Mar 1997) 4159 Redeeming the Time A People's History of the 1920s and the New Deal Volume Eight, by Page Smith (read 9 May 2006) There are 7973 pages of text, with no footnotes and no bibliography to speak of. The book would have been greatly improved by footnotes, but nevertheless I still give this final volume five stars, since it covers so much information so well. The previous reviewer says well what you can expect by reading this final volume.

It is a sad commentary on public literacy and civic awareness when a whole series of books so splendid, educational, and damned readable is allowed to go out of print, such as has the quite literate eight book series by noted historian Page Smith. This massive and spectacularly executed series is organized around the continuing themes of American History, and centers on our emergence into the larger world as a main player in the world community. This is modern history at its best; masterfully retold, entertaining and edifying to read, and organized around central themes that make the subject both approachable and more understandable. The present volume, "Redeeming The Time: A People's History Of The 1920s And The New Deal", is the final of the eight volumes in the series Professor Smith published, and represents the culmination of a decade's work threading through the mass of American history. Dr. Smith begins here with the Roaring Twenties, a time of such notables as Charles Lindbergh, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the uproar over Sacco and Vanzetti, setting the stage for the cataclysmic onset of the Depression and its massive dislocations, an event so devastating and catastrophic that it nearly led to a political revolution. Of course, the central figures in all this are the political leaders, especially Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose implementation of the New Deal offered ordinary citizens a modicum of hope, purpose, and eventually the resolve to face the emanating threat from international fascism. As with his previous seven volumes, Professor Smith guides us masterfully through the particulars of the lives of a stream of extraordinary people, individuals who rose to the manifest challenges of the era with energy, imagination, and selfless enthusiasm. In so doing, they reshaped and redefined the meaning and possibilities for America, and eventually helped in the effort to transform the world in the process. As with each of his previous volumes, the author uses his narrative to tell the story of individuals both famous and anonymous, and in so doing helps the reader to better appreciate what it meant to be alive and involved in one of the most amazing periods in modern history, when America rose mightily and purposefully from the ashes of its own collapse to a new prominence, political vibrancy, and prosperity. In sum, this is a work of a great and singular historian, one which offers a unique perspective on a most momentous, dangerous, and exciting times in our history. It is the story of two decades which did so much to define and forge the nation we have today, and gives the reader great cause for celebration and concern. I highly recommend you search out this book as a used commodity and then hang onto it for dear life. I do. Enjoy!