Giants in Their Time: Representative Americans from the Jazz Age to the Cold WarFrom the 1920s to the end of the Second World War, the American experience was one of both unbounded optimism, monumental achievements, and tragic loss. In Giants in their Time, the latest volume in the Representative Americans Series, noted historian Norman K. Risjord uses biographical sketches to create a composite portrait of the United States during this dynamic and trying period. Beginning with the promise held by Americans in the 1920s, Risjord focuses on the creative genius of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington and the extraordinary life of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Plunging readers into the Great Depression, Risjord looks at the lives of Samuel Insull, Herbert Hoover, and John L. Lewis to better understand efforts to save a struggling nation. And while George Marshall and Robert Oppenheimer epitomize the nation's war efforts from a military perspective, Risjord looks at the experiences of the Nisei Japanese and women participating in the war effort to provide a window into the experiences of ordinary Americans during the war. Through these biographical sketches, Risjord makes the past more vivid and concrete, revealing a heritage that present-day readers can feel and experience. |
Contents
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington Giants of the Jazz Age | 3 |
Aimee Semple McPherson Jazz Age Religion | 27 |
Samuel Insull and the Great Crash | 51 |
Battling the Depression | 71 |
Herbert Hoover and the Crisis of American Individualism | 73 |
Harry Hopkins Quintessential New Dealer | 97 |
John L Lewis Labor Giant and Public Villain | 117 |
Mickey Mouse Laughter in Hard Times | 145 |
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Common terms and phrases
administration Aimee Aimee Semple McPherson Alamos American Angelus Temple army asked atomic bomb band became began British camp cartoon Chicago Churchill Club coal committee Communist Congress Cotton Club dance Democratic Depression Disney Duke Ellington Edison Eisenhower electric Ellington Europe federal force Franklin Roosevelt German Harlem Harry Hopkins Herbert Hoover Hoover Hopkins industrial Inouye Insull Insull's Japan Japanese jazz labor landing later Lewis Lewis's Louis Armstrong married Marshall McPherson ment Mickey Mouse Mickey's Miklos military million miners Minnie months moved Negro Nisei Nishimoto North Oppenheimer Oppenheimer's organization Orleans Pentecostal Pentecostal mission percent plutonium political president president's production projects relief Republican returned Roosevelt Rosie the Riveter Samuel Insull secretary sent social Soviet staff Stalin Steamboat Willie steel Street strike thousand tion Truman union United wage Washington weeks women workers York