In 1920s America, the boom in automobiles, electricity, credit lines, radio, and movies certainly presaged a serious recession by the decade's end, but the totality of the Great Crash of 1929 shocked the nation, and the duration of the ensuing Depression scarred generations to come. In this lucid and fast-paced account of the cataclysm, Charles Morris anchors his narrative in the United States, but also fully investigates the poisonous political atmosphere of postwar Europe, pulling together the intricate threads of policy, ideology, and sheer individual cantankerousness that finally pushed the entire world economy over the brink into depression.

"A deft synthesis, blending colorful accounts of the past with the scholarly literature of the present.... It is hard to imagine a more accessible and entertaining introduction to the subject."—NYTBR