metropolitan industries. This cadre of New Dealers instituted programs such as the National Recovery Act, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. Yet Roosevelt never fully went into the depths of deficit spending as proposed by Keynes. He hesitated and possibly constrained the economy. It took the massive mobilization for war to mark the economy's rebound. Nevertheless, the groundwork laid by the New Deal had long standing ramifications into the post-war era. Kennedy's work agrees with Joan Hoff Wilson's Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive, Herbert Stein's Fiscal Revolution and Alan Brinkley's The End of Reform. It applauds the efforts of both Hoover and especially Roosevelt. It covers political and economic aspects of the era, but leaves out much of American popular culture. (less) A very readable account of the American people during the run-up to the Depression and through World War II. The author was very even-handed in his account of Hoover and his attempts at bringing the US out of the Depression; he was equally even-handed in his treatment of FDR - describing faults and accomplishments. There are sections on women, the labor movement, a broad view of the European and Pacific fronts, Negroes and several other sections that don't come to mind right now. I'd recommend t ...more A very readable account of the American people during the run-up to the Depression and through World War II. The author was very even-handed in his account of Hoover and his attempts at bringing the