Jazz, flappers, flasks, rumbleseats, and raccoon coats; Mah Jong, crossword puzzles, marathon dancers, and flagpole sitters; Red Grange, Rudolph Valentino, and Lucky Lindy. These were the catch words of the roaring, irrepressible '20's. But so were the Boston Police Strike, the K.K.K., women's suffrage, Sigmund Freud, Sacco and Vanzetti, Teapot Dome, Black Tuesday.
In this span between armistice and depression, Americans were kicking up their heels, but they were also bringing about major changes in the social and political structure of their country. Only Yesterday is a fond, witty, penetrating biography of this restless decade-a delightful reminiscence for those who can remember, a fascinating firsthand look for those who've only heard.
Only YesterdayAn Informal History of the 1920s
Frederick L. Allen
Summary
Only Yesterday
Narrarated by: Grover Gardner
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Intelligent Look at the 1920s
I first heard of this book from one of my history professors. But, because this professor seemed kind of old fashioned to me, at a time when I was more receptive to more modern historical revisionism (in the legitimate academic sense), I assumed this book would be some kind of hokey survey of the 1920s. Still, when I saw it here, I downloaded it. Now I wish I had not waited so long. Allen's overview of the 1920s is intelligent and well narrated. His descriptions bring life to many of the trends, advances, and absurdities of the decade following World War I. After several hours experiencing the time on my MP3 player, I found myself actually getting depressed as the high times fall apart at the end of the book. While Allen does not wrap up the book with pessimism, as he wrote this book in 1931, the knowledge of the grim events of the next two decades makes it hard to leave the optimism of the era.