The Great Depression: A Diary

Benjamin Roth

Jul 2009 · Sold by PublicAffairs

About this ebook

When the stock market crashed in 1929, Benjamin Roth was a young lawyer in Youngstown, Ohio. After he began to grasp the magnitude of what had happened to American economic life, he decided to set down his impressions in his diary.

This collection of those entries reveals another side of the Great Depression—one lived through by ordinary, middle-class Americans, who on a daily basis grappled with a swiftly changing economy coupled with anxiety about the unknown future. Roth's depiction of life in time of widespread foreclosures, a schizophrenic stock market, political unrest and mass unemployment seem to speak directly to readers today.

Ratings and reviews

I was very enthusiastic about reading this book after hearing about it on NPR's "Planet Money" podcast and immediately put it on hold at the library. It didn't quite meet my expectations but I am very glad to have read it. It is not a "day in the life" type diary (I didn't expect it to be but I was hoping for some of that kind of thing) but a diary of someone trying to make sense of the economics of his day. He looked at the depression as an opportunity to learn which is why I connected with him - the recent financial crisis prompted me to try to understand what had happened. To me, the toughest part of reading it is how it can get a bit repetitive at times but overall I would say it is an engaging book for the economics minded person. He references books he has read and events that happened but often without much detail and that just piques my curiosity and has prompted me to read more books about that era and even some written during that era.

About the author

James Ledbetter is the editor of "The Big Money," Slate.com's website on business and economics.

Daniel B. Roth, son of Benjamin Roth, is the chairman of the law firm of Roth, Blair, Roberts, Strasfeld & Lodge in Youngstown, Ohio.