1920: The Year of Six Presidents (Unabridged)

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.

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.