The Forgotten Man

By: Amity Shlaes

Narrated by: Terence Aselford

Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

It's difficult today to imagine how America survived the Great Depression. Only through the stories of the common people who struggled during that era can we really understand how the nation endured. In The Forgotten Man, Amity Shlaes offers a striking reinterpretation of the Great Depression. Rejecting the old emphasis on the New Deal, she turns to the neglected and moving stories of individual Americans, and shows how they helped establish the steadfast character we developed as a nation.

Shlaes also traces the mounting agony of the New Dealers themselves as they discovered their errors. She shows how both Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt failed to understand the prosperity of the 1920s and heaped massive burdens on the country that more than offset the benefit of New Deal programs.

The real question about the Depression, she argues, is not whether Roosevelt ended it with World War II. It is why the Depression lasted so long. From 1929 to 1940, federal intervention helped to make the Depression great, in part by forgetting the men and women who sought to help one another. The Forgotten Man, offers a new look at one of the most important periods in our history, allowing us to understand the strength of the American character today.

©2007 Amity Shlaes (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"A thoughtful, even-tempered corrective to too often unbalanced celebrations of FDR and his administration's pathbreaking policies." ( Publishers Weekly)

The Forgotten Man Lost in a Crowd

The book begins with great promise as it takes a new look at how FDR's policies did more to prolong the Great Depression than bring about recovery. However, it quickly gets lost among art collections, boat trips, government photography programs and the life stories of a cast of thousands that is impossible to follow in an audio book. I personally would have preferred a smaller cast and more focus on the economic principles that are all but glossed over. By the end, there are too many storylines to follow and they are not brought back together to form a coherent or satisfying conclusion.

Informative Read

There were details about this time in history that you do not normally get to hear about. Easy to listen to and informative.

TMI Too much detail. Biased author.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Yes, I would give much more focus on the actual human aspect. How did the politics effect the daily lives of the average citizen.

Did The Forgotten Man inspire you to do anything?

No

Any additional comments?

Names of politicians was overboard. Lost my interest about half way through book.

A great book.

Shlaes does a great job of explaining what you will never learn in Public Schools. Don’t be fooled by people who call this “revisionist”. As you read it you also see a lot of similarities in the legislation and arguments that are being used today. Unfortunately some don’t learn what history has to teach.

A brilliant look inside the New Deal

This book takes a different, less flattering, look at the workings of both Hoover and Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression.

Excellent Insight

I find the book objective in its presentation providing information (facts)that provide insight and background for what FDR and his people did to this country and the results of their actions. A reader will certainly come away with a better understanding of what the present administration's agenda is.

A compelling history of the Great Depression

This well written story has many lessons to teach modern America. Throughly research and highly credible it left me with a much better understanding of FDR and the politics of his time. I learned a lot about things I thought I knew. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in what is happening around them.

Good Overview of Depression Era Politics

A fascinating run through the key players in and around the White House during the period leading up to and during the depression. Such notables as Father Coughlin, Guy Tugwell, Father Divine, and many others are profiled, in chronological sequence. The author provides background on each notable figure. Several major legal challenges to FDR policies are also detailed. I found myself cheering when the Schecter brothers won their case, as though it had just happened.

Worth your time!

Very interesting to gain perspective by comparing events then to events today. At first thought I’d find this slow-going, but I was wrong. Very much worth your time and attention.

One of the Best Books On the Subject

This is absolutely one of the best books on the subject of the Great Depression. The depth that Ms. Shlaes go to in dealing with such subjects as the Schecters, and the personalities of the "brain-trust" and other details is superb.
I'm a former high school teacher and this is one of the books I recommend most often to my former students.