Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal began as a program of short-term emergency relief measures and evolved into a truly transformative concept of the federal government's role in Americans' lives. More than an economic recovery plan, it was a reordering of the political system that continues to define America to this day. With this book, writer Michael Hiltzik offers fresh insights into this inflection point in the American experience. He shows how Roosevelt,...

Describes the challenges faced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the first 100 days of his presidency as well as highlights the preparations he put into place, including military expansions, that ultimately enabled the United States to be victorious in World War II.

Critically assesses the president's role in transforming American government and life during World War II, arguing that such programs as farm subsidies, minimum wage, and welfare are having continuing repercussions in the current economy.

A girl helps her Depression-poor father get a job after she befriends a cantankerous millionaire.

"With The Money Makers, Eric Rauchway tells the absorbing story of how FDR and his advisors pulled the levers of monetary policy to save the domestic economy and propel the United States to unprecedented prosperity and superpower status. Drawing on the ideas of the brilliant British economist John Maynard Keynes, among others, Roosevelt created the conditions for recovery from the Great Depression, deploying economic policy to fight the biggest threat...

"The Darkest Year is acclaimed author William K. Klingaman's narrative history of the American home front from December 7, 1941 through the end of 1942, a psychological study of the nation under the pressure of total war. For Americans on the home front, the twelve months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor comprised the darkest year of World War Two. Despite government attempts to disguise the magnitude of American losses, it was clear...