6 Things I Learned From the Book "Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s"
I read Frederick Lewis Allen's book Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s.
Lewis was one of the best historians of the last century, as much a storyteller as an archivist. His other two books -- The Big Change and Since Yesterday -- tell an amazing story of how America changed in the first half of the 20th century.
Here are six things I learned from Only Yesterday, which was originally published in 1931:
1. The end of World War I made Americans want to let loose in the 1920s:
2. A loosening of commercial publications set off a new culture of American values:
3. Prohibition might have done more to boost the joy of alcohol than diminish it:
4. The automobile completely transformed the economy:
5. The bursting of the stock bubble in 1929 did more than hurt wealth; it destroyed a way of life:
6. The Great Depression, which lasted until 1940, was originally written off as a blip:
Go buy the book here. It's great.
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