1929: America Before the Crash

Economic mayhem. Do you understand what's going on? Most of us don't. And even more disturbing, we fear that those who are supposed to understand do not.

Life savings and retirement plans dropping in value. What's a trillion dollars anyway? Unemployment at 5%. During the Great Depression it was 25%. So it's not so bad now. Right?

What does the viability of an insurance company like AIG have to do with whether I can use my credit card for a cash advance?

Are we really heading toward another Great Crash like the one in 1929?

Well, you know my big push is always toward educating yourself. Learn as much as you can. The best single place to find out what it was like in 1929 and to see what similarities there are to now is to read Warren Sloat’s remarkable book, 1929: America Before the Crash.

The book has a long history. When originally published to critical acclaim in 1979, the Chicago Tribune called it “a powerful and dramatic history of the times” and the New York Times said it had “all the ingredients of a story to match – or outmatch – Watergate.” As its reputation continued to grow, 1929 has recently been republished as a trade paperback. Only recently Newsweek cited the book as an example of how a writer can encapsulate the story of a pivotal year in history.

Sloat takes us up to the Crash. We all attend a party on October 21, 1929 given by Henry Ford in honor of Thomas Edison and the 50 year anniversary of the invention of the lightbulb. The partygoers honoring Edison included President Herbert Hoover, Orville Wright, Madame Marie Curie, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Enjoying the height of success and prosperity they were blind to the destiny that waited only days hence in the caverns of Wall Street.

Sloat's book is a sweeping narrative that includes portraits of many of the leading figures of the era, from an elderly Thomas Edison to a young Charles Lindbergh, it depicts the US on the brink of disaster. It’s instructive yet fun to read.

By the way -- the author is my husband.

Recently Warren received an email from a 30-something reader. “Your book is filling in all sorts of holes about our current economic and business zeitgeist,” he wrote.

If you're interested in learning more about then, and perhaps now, you can purchase 1929 here.

June Walker
The Author's Wife