Customer Reviews

From the Crash to the Blitz (New York Times Chronicle of American Life)

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I picked up From the Crash to the Blitz (FCB) with the purpose of increasing my knowledge about the era that spawned pulp fiction. No, not Quentin Tarantino's movie, the genre.

My intent was to learn more about how people thought and felt in the 1930s, but I ended up learning much more than I ever was taught in high school. In fact, I don't remember much about the 1930s from high school except that it was just before World War II and Franklin D. Roosevelt had a "New Deal."

FCB fixes all that.

The author takes a step-by-step summary of economic conditions and political mores, of the general climate and attitude of the United States as well as that of the media. I learned that most people thought that communism was actually a pretty good idea after the horror of the Depression, that everyone thought Mussolini was a good guy until he invaded Ethiopia, that the "Red" states used to be aligned with the Democrats, and that FDR was an astounding and sometimes frightening President.

The book takes the reader chapter by chapter through the progression of the 30s, starting with the stock market crash of 1929. Of course, all the elements for disaster were already there; the crash merely made it official.

The parallels between the 1920s and the 21st century are intriguing to say the least. Like in the 20s, there was a real concern about the viability of the economy as a new economic driver (industrialization then, e-commerce now) took hold. Like in the 20s, a climactic event (the Crash then, September 11 now) brought about demands of change in our leadership and how our government works. And like in the 20s, people still loved, laughed, and died.

The book itself is thick with anecdotes, occasionally yanking the reader back to reality by displaying newspaper clips. Indeed, the newspaper clips are the book's strength. This tome is not pie-in-the-sky historical revisionism; it's tempered by the reality (and sometimes humor) of newspaper headlines.

Unfortunately, the photographs taken from the 20s that are scattered throughout the book are disruptive. There's no guiding hand of a layout artist here, so the pages alternate between blocks of text and then full pages of pictures. The pictures are not always clear and the captions are disjointed. Sometimes, the pictures reference a part of the book several pages before. It was distracting enough that it made the book hard to read. This book is also written at a higher than 8th-grade reading level. There were a few words I didn't understand (and that probably have fallen out of the vernacular now). Still, it's a thoughtful, important work and the words the author uses are appropriate.

FCB builds up momentum as a World War looms, only to be cut abruptly short at Hitler's blitz. Which is a shame, really, because there's no sense of closure. It's as if the book were chopped in half. There's no conclusions, no closing comments, the book just...ends. Maybe this has something to do with Cabell Phillips' next book in the series, The 1940s: Decade of Triumph and Trouble.

If the book has a flaw, it's that at times FCB is almost too kind to FDR. FDR was the rare combination of charisma and ability; he shook the very foundations of government with his own two hands, a feat that has few comparisons in our modern day (except perhaps Reagan). But most importantly, FDR was loved by the common people, a love that gave him confidence to do nearly anything: create Social Security, take on big business, regulate the stock market, provide farm aid and social works, and more. FDR did a lot, but when he was bad, such as when he attempted to replace the Supreme Court Justices because they didn't agree with him, he was dangerous to the democracy he upheld.

That said, I never truly understood the magnitude of FDR's contributions to America beyond the New Deal. Nor did I understand the crushing poverty, the general malaise, and the utter frustration that permeated society; the belief that, on some level, democracy and capitalism were dismal failures.

It was out of this depressing state that pulps were formed. Although the book dedicates very little to their creation, it helped me appreciate the spirit that helped give the pulp books momentum. This was a time when things were so bad that they could only get better, when the middle class was just as poor as the lower class.

No wonder people wanted perfect heroes-their own social status had collapsed. No wonder outlandish plots seemed acceptable-the world stage brought unbelievable atrocity atop unbelievable atrocity. No wonder young people wanted action-most kids had their futures sharply curtailed by the crush of the depression.

The span of years that FCB covers was America at its very worst and at its very best. It should be required reading for every adult who ever thought, "America will never make it through this."

We can. We did. And we will.

Cabell Phillips' From The Crash To The Blitz 1929-39 provides ahistorical review of the period from 1929-39 in America: a time whichencompassed both the Depression and war. From changes in popular society to political and economic transitions, this provides an all-encompassing history which focuses on what it was like to live during the changing times.

This book was a work of written art with a unique atmosphere of the years covered. This was a great depiction of the non-fictional view of 1929-1939.