I read this book a few months ago, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Even if you’re not a big fan of history, this book is very accessible in the way it presents the relief efforts, and the thinking behind them, during the Roosevelt Administration.

I learned a fair amount about the first female Cabinet member, Frances Perkins, the Secretary of Labor.

Surprisingly (to me, anyway), some of the programs and measures that were enacted had been contemplated by the Hoover Administration, but, for a variety of reasons, were never tried.

The bank holiday, while a major inconvenience in that banks were shut down nationwide, ended up being such a success that people lined up to deposit money in banks as they reopened.

The Interstate Highway System, largely credited to the Eisenhower Administration, was planned during the Roosevelt Administration, but was tabled because of World War II.

The history of Railroad Retirement, Social Security, and unemployment insurance, are very pertinent today. When the Great Depression hit, none of these social safety nets were in place, but they were all here for the Great Recession of 2008. Social Security was so controversial, particularly with its mandatory worker participation, that it took 20 years before it was settled law.

Although this book is now out in paper, you may find remaindered hardback copies cheaper. You can, or course, read it for free from your library.

Reviews were published in Kirkus Reviews, the Los Angeles Times, and Mother Jones.

The New Deal: A Modern History, by Michael Hiltzik. Free Press, 2011