David E. Kyvig (1944–2015)

This is a very good introduction to the social history of the Stats between the two World Wars. It focuses primarily on the Twenties, but there is a good long cue on the Thirties too.

The book starts off with a picture of the United States at the closing of WWI, a portrait that tries to take in as diverse situations as possible, with a heavy help form the statistics of the Census (statistics are a great part of this book, which if on one hand grounds the matter in an objective perspective, on the other comes across as dry in many places) and some anthropological studies of the period.
Because the Twenties are essentially years of big changes, regarding so many ways of life, this is where the book focuses. The first few chapters deal with the three more important innovations in the decade: the car, the radio and electricity. Things that already existed, but now became so widely common to change the way people worked as well as they used their free time. In response to this new asset of life - more free in many respects - people expectations changed as well, so that to a material change correspond a more `spiritual' one.

A couple of long chapters in the middle of the book deal with the way life moved in the short run (everyday life) and in the long run (a year around portrait of life). Here is where the true details come out: the way life changed inside the house, the way houses changed in response to new technology and new expectations, the way people behaved toward one another, the way they reacted to small and big event in life (going to school, falling in love, managing a family, dealing with life events like births and deaths). Changing behaviours toward job, changing behaviours toward entertainments, changing behaviours toward food, clothes, hairstyle, advertisement.

And to be honest, what impressed me the most about these chapters concerning the expectation of people and the way they sought to realise them, is how much it's similar to today attitude. It's true, there are so many different things between the Twenties and today, but there are also so many similarities. More, in my opinion, than with any other past decades. It's here that so many things we take for granted first entered people's life (electric appliances, the car, far and fast communication - radio and phone - but also the way people get together - parties, cinema - and look to each other - a less restrained, less rules-heavy way of relation). It's here, in a way, that the world as we know it today started.

Then in a couple of chapters, the book tries to touch all other important aspects of social life: policies, economics, law and order. These are very wide and complex matters, though, and the book only touches them by. The soar and fall of the KKK, important trials that impacted on the society's perception of themselves (Scottsboro, Sacco and Vanzetti), natural catastrophes that affected entire sections of the population (the Dust Bowl), the attitude and real situation of criminal life, the attitude toward immigration
All of these is dealt with with great essentiality and the reader is left wanting to know more. And this is a shame, although I understand the author had to make a choice about the subject matter.

The last third of the book deals with the Thirties and the Great Depression. It starts off with a very vivid description of the onset of the Depression and the way it affected people's life. It explains in a clear, simple way (maybe even too simplified, but I won't complain about that) what caused the 1929 stockmarket crash, and how the psychological and emotional reaction of people affected it as well as an objective economic difficulty. It describes in essential, but very vivid details, and with scant or no statistics, what life was for a great part of people. It was nearly more a narration than dissertation.
The last chapter then relates the work of the New Deal. It is essentially a chart of the many initiatives the government took to relief people's life, with brief dissertations of why those measures were taken and how people reacted to them. A bit dry, maybe (also because of the heavy statistics), but interesting all the same.

The last chapter is a second portrait of American society at the verge of WWII. Again statistics, again considerations, again a look to the same communities the book opened with and to the changes they had been through in the Twenties and Thirties.

Overall, a very interesting book. Maybe more valuable for people interested in the Twenties than the Thirties (the Great Depression is dealt with in an admittedly extremely essential way), but certainly enough to get a good overall grasp to life during these two decades.… (plus d'informations)

“Nearby History: Exploring the Past Around You” is an expansion of a text David Kyvig and Myron Marty put together for history students and curious amateurs. Their intention was to provide a basic understanding of the actual “how to” questions about historical research. After explaining “Why Nearby History?” and “What Can be Done Locally?” they begin step-by-step instructions on actually doing historical research. The first step they cover, forming a question, is a surprisingly inclusive listing of possible beginning points for research. Once the question is formed they explain where and how to find information, written, audio, visual and material information, and how to interpret it. Finally, after a strangely placed chapter on historic preservation, they discuss the process of writing out the results of your research.
Only one thing prevents me from giving this book my highest praise. It was published in 1982 and beyond forming the original question almost everything in the book has been made obsolete by the Internet. The information in the book is not wrong, all their advice still works, but today there are better ways to find almost the information they cover. The American Association for State and Local History, the copyright holder, would do well to update this valuable but technologically outdated book.… (plus d'informations)