1920: The Year of Six Presidents (Unabridged)
-
-
3.0 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $34.99
Publisher Description
The presidential election of 1920 was among history's most dramatic. Six once-and-future presidents--Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt--jockeyed for the White House. With voters choosing between Wilson's League of Nations and Harding's front-porch isolationism, the 1920 election shaped modern America. Women won the vote. Republicans outspent Democrats by 4 to 1, as voters witnessed the first extensive newsreel coverage, modern campaign advertising, and results broadcast on radio. America had become an urban nation: Automobiles, mass production, chain stores, and easy credit transformed the economy. 1920 paints a vivid portrait of America, beset by the Red Scare, jailed dissidents, Prohibition, smoke-filled rooms, bomb-throwing terrorists, and the Klan, gingerly crossing modernity's threshold.
Customer Reviews
I do not recommend this book. Narration is poor.
This book is horrible. First, there is the narrator. He presents like an angered child who has been told they can't have a new car for their 16th birthday. The universal failure of this book is not entirely on the narrator. The author leaves out key historical points in an effort to sway arguments. When reading historical books I prefer more objective presentations. Although I enjoy a book that leans on character, culture, and geo-political situations to bring life to a story. This book, with its overly-dramatic narrator, and its inherent ability to selectively stretch certain historical situations to drive home negative points, has the air of a high school debate student who has chosen to argue a counterpoint simply for the fun of it.
I do NOT recommend this book.
Great, eye opening look at a forgotten hole in history
How often does this timeframe get discussed? It was after WWI and before the Depression, logically it would come near the end of school year history classes, when people stop paying attention and more important topics like the Depression, WWII, and the Cold War still have to be covered. So it just gets ignored. This book covers it. And it's important. We see how Wilson, in retrospect, was one of the worst presidents ever, while Harding, never admired, could have been great had it not been for his corrupt friends. We see the greatness of Coolidge, the Smoot/Hawley failure of Hoover, and FDR's return to Wilsonism to ruin the nation. A fascinating look at a time 99% of Americans know nothing about. I wish there had been more on the influence of the Great Influenza pandemic and the foolishness of Smoot/Hawley, but it is damn impressive nonetheless.