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)

Well written and well read

Excellent book, well narrated. Shlaes weaves a compelling narrative to follow through the ‘20s and ‘30s.

Incredible!

This is the history we SHOULD have learned, but didn't, in school.

This is the Great Depression as you've never seen it. Even though you know what is coming, you feel the stress and fear of an oncoming train wreck! And I could see many of the same things happening now. I couldn't put it down!

Timely

While some say this is revisionist history, many of the facts tell a different story. It shows why Capitalism is one of the few economic systems that truly works, whether we like it or not. The comments about "unpatriotic" weathly americans can apply to every person in America and what we all do. Most people are focused on themselves and therefore the economic system of a country needs to flourish when this happens. That is why Capitalism has been successful and why failed Socialistic economies like Russia have moved to it. In a broader sense, this book shows why redistribution of wealth does not work. This is an outstanding book at this time in history.

Informative, well written

But it was a little tedious. It is non fiction and not supposed to read like a novel and I am ok with that. But I always find these kinds of books a little hard to follow. Luckily I had a hard copy of the book as well, which really helped me understand it. It contains lists of people in the book with very short bios, and also has an index which made it easy to reread parts about specific people or events.

I suppose I think that all Americans should understand their legacy which is the history of this great country. That is something I am trying to accomplish through reading books such as this one which recounts the decade of the Great Depression. Having been born a decade after the end of the Depression, I was vaguely familiar with so many of the names talked about in this book which were still being bantered about quite frequently

It is very well written and very informative. Shlaes seems to take a fair point of view concerning the things she writes about. I don't get a sense that she has an agenda or that she is taking one side against another, but is doing her best to present the facts fairly in the best way that she can. The whole point of the book is that all too often during the tumultuous decade of the '30s, the little man, the average man, the working man, was forgotten. I think this is still pretty much the way is today.

Terence Aselford is very nice narrator, just right for this book.

Roosevelt era

Outstanding presentation of a time when America almost came under dictatorship. The country moved irrevocably down the path of progressivism and changed the character of Constitutional America. I enjoyed the honesty of the narrative without the whitewash of historical embellishment left over from the post depression era writers.

The Downside of the New Deal

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It explains why the New Deal was not more successful at pulling the USA out of the Depression.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Forgotten Man?

One of the most memorable moments was the candidacy of Wendell Wilkie during the 1940 Presidential race: FDR noted that he ran a really good race and utilized his talents later in his own administration! Other memorable moments were descriptions of the Progressives' hatred for the wealthy and their constant efforts to tax the rich into oblivion (some things don't change). Another memorable story is how one of the richest men of the period, Andrew Mellon, donates a beautiful building to the country, The National Gallery of Art, as well as a huge collection of art that he purchased for all Americans to enjoy. In addition, he persuades other wealthy Americans to donate their personal art collections to the National Gallery. FDR suddenly develops an appreciation for this man whom he has scorned for many years.

What aspect of Terence Aselford’s performance would you have changed?

His voice sounds like that of a person from the 1930's. He read a little too fast for me. I would've liked for him to slow down a bit.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

No Deal

Any additional comments?

There are several parallels between how the Democratic Party operated in the 1930's and how it operates today. Progressives promise that more jobs and services will be distributed to the common people and the poor. They claim that they are more open minded and inclusive than Republicans. The reality when they are in power is that Americans are showered with a huge number of new rules and laws that we must follow. There's a totalitarian aspect of the progressive political viewpoint that tries to force people into a mold that progressives can tolerate. In the end many governmental processes become a hot mess, we are worse off and the country is in deep debt just as it was during the 1930's.

Masterful

A fluid, meticulously researched, insightful history of the New Deal with compelling portraits of key figures of the era and a firm grasp of the political, social, and economic issues raised. Nicely narrated, too.

Great listen

The title led me to believe it was another chronicle of the plight of the American poor during the Great Depression. I was wrong! This fascinating book is a comprehensive look at the financial, political and social history of that period from Calvin Coolidge up to World War 2. I was transported by not only by the history of the period but the authors perspective and presentation. I only gave it 5 stars because 6 was not offered as an option. Thank you, Mr. Shlaes.

Student of history

If you want to know what is coming to our country. Look to our past. When socialism was tried it did not work in the 1930's and made the depression even longer and deeper. This book was an EYE opener

Antidote for Our Collective Amnesia

Ms Shlaes' 'Forgotten Man' is as forgotten today as back then, and in greater numbers than ever. Regrettably, fewer and fewer people are alive today to recall the great depression for the rest of us, and so this book is the best antidote to our collective amnesia.

The Forgotten Man is exceedingly fair and balanced, and to my mind neither political party comes off well, well-intentioned though they may have been.

Don't let those who snubbingly call the book "revisionist' fool you. It is history, plain and simple, only history that most Americans alive today neither recall nor wish to recall. The intellectual elite of the past are the same as those we have experimenting on us today. Only, back then they didn't have a great depression to learn from, making inexcusable the actions of today's brain trusts.

The numerous biographical sketches bring the times alive and making the book a double winner, both an excellent collection of fascinating biography as well as history.

I found the book a very quick listen, and now every headline I read in the paper, every piece of legislation that is passed, and all the exact same rhetoric we hear our leaders exhort takes on a whole new meaning.