NWR: New Deal Book Recs

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Yule Kim

Yule Kim
I am looking for comprehensive, one volume surveys of Reconstruction, the New Deal, and the Great Society. Can anyone recommend the ones which are considered seminal?
 
This is aways from what I work on, but I would second Foner on Reconstruction; David Kennedy, Freedom from Fear covers the New Deal (special mention for Liz Cohen, Making a New Deal); Caro's Passage of Power on LBJ, and maybe Patterson's Grand Expectations on the Great Society.
 
originally posted by Cliff:
This is aways from what I work on, but I would second Foner on Reconstruction; David Kennedy, Freedom from Fear covers the New Deal (special mention for Liz Cohen, Making a New Deal); Caro's Passage of Power on LBJ, and maybe Patterson's Grand Expectations on the Great Society.
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I haven't read the new Caro. I've enjoyed the first three. But poor Yule was asking for one volume, and even this new one doesn't get to the New Deal, to judge from the reviews. The Dallek biography is the one people always cite as the more scholarly and less breathless alternative. And that's still biography. There must be a good book on the Great Society as opposed to bios of Johnson.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Cliff:
This is aways from what I work on, but I would second Foner on Reconstruction; David Kennedy, Freedom from Fear covers the New Deal (special mention for Liz Cohen, Making a New Deal); Caro's Passage of Power on LBJ, and maybe Patterson's Grand Expectations on the Great Society.
Click to expand...

I haven't read the new Caro. I've enjoyed the first three. But poor Yule was asking for one volume, and even this new one doesn't get to the New Deal, to judge from the reviews. The Dallek biography is the one people always cite as the more scholarly and less breathless alternative. And that's still biography. There must be a good book on the Great Society as opposed to bios of Johnson.
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I agree. Caro is massive, but this volume, which I've only just started, is clearly the best of the bunch. For single volume treatment, go with Patterson. It's part of the (outstanding) Oxford series.
 
I just finished Passage, which sets the stage for Johnson's Great Society program, but stops before the real action occurs, which won't be covered until the final volume is published.

My favorite so far is Master. Caro excels at presenting a fact-packed history as well-written narrative. Reminds me of Seymour Hersch, in a way, and Marc Reisner (who knew, by the way, that Cadillac Desert was produced as a film?).

Caro falls into rambling, repetitive passages here and there in Passage, but their effect is like that of trees with blemished leaves in the Versailles Garden: the don't signify relative to the overall achievement.

Sorry, arcing off-topic here.
 
Thank you everyone for your tips. Has anyone read "Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal" by William Leuchtenburg? It is a little old, but it seems like a classic.

Luckily I have already read the 3 earlier Caro books, so Passage of Power will be a single volume for me. Though it looks like the Great Society will be left for the next book to address.
 
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