The Great Depression, 1929-1939
by Pierre Berton
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Description
Over 1.5 million Canadians were on relief, one in five was a public dependant, and 70,000 young men travelled like hoboes. Ordinary citizens were rioting in the streets, but their demonstrations met with indifference, and dissidents were jailed. Canada emerged from the Great Depression a different nation. The most searing decade in Canada's history began with the stock market crash of 1929 and ended with the Second World War. With formidable story-telling powers, Berton reconstructs its show more engrossing events vividly: the Regina Riot, the Great Birth Control Trial, the black blizzards of the dust bowl and the rise of Social Credit. The extraordinary cast of characters includes Prime Minister Mackenzie King, who praised Hitler and Mussolini but thought Winston Churchill "one of the most dangerous men I have ever known"; Maurice Duplessis, who padlocked the homes of private citizens for their political opinions; and Tim Buck, the Communist leader who narrowly escaped murder in Kingston Penitentiary. In this #1 best-selling book, Berton proves that Canada's political leaders failed to take the bold steps necessary to deal with the mass unemployment, drought and despair. A child of the era, he writes passionately of people starving in the midst of plenty. show lessTags
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Cecrow Same author, same era.
Member Reviews
Berton's usual excellent mix of telling personal stories as well as the politics. An era we hear too little about. The dust storms, the unemployment levels and the camps, the Canadian government's inability (or unwillingness) to take action - incredible. If WW2 hadn't ended it, what could have?
An excellent reading for anyone interested in the Great Depression, this is one of the rare works covering the situation in Canada during this era. Pierre Berton's books are well written and researched, this one is no exception. I am fascinated by the Great Depression period, it was such a difficult time and I like to learn about how people lived, coped with the hardships and carried on. Great book.
so much fighting with police. the police are horrible
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Author Information
103+ Works 7,402 Members
Pierre Berton was born in 1920 and raised in the Yukon. He worked in Klondike mining camps during his university years, spending four years in the army, rising from private to captain/instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston. After the military, Berton went to Vancouver where he began his career at a newspaper. At 21, he was the show more youngest city editor on any Canadian daily. He moved to Toronto in 1947, and at the age of 31 was named managing editor of Maclean's. In 1957 he became a key member of the CBC's public affairs flagship program, Close-Up, and a permanent panelist on Front Page Challenge. He joined The Toronto Star as an associate editor and columnist in 1958, leaving 4 years later in '62 to commence The Pierre Berton Show, which ran until 1973. Since then he has appeared as host and writer on My Country, The Great Debate, Heritage Theatre, and The Secret of My Success. He has received numerous honourary degrees and served as the Chancellor of Yukon College. Berton is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, and has received a Stephen Leacock Medal for Humor in 1959, a Govenor's General Award for The Mysterious North in 1956, Klondike in 1958 and The Last Spike in 1972. Berton has also won a Nellie Award for best public broadcaster in radio in 1978, the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for non fiction in, 1981 and the Canadian Booksellers Award in 1982. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1990
- People/Characters
- Richard Bedford Bennett; Mackenzie King
- Important places
- Canada
- Important events
- Great Depression
- Epigraph
- "The historian of the future, when he writes about Canada and the Great Depression, will comment upon the remarkable ineptitude of Canadian public men when faced with this emergency. He will write of the obstinate refusal of ... (show all)governments to face realities; of their pitiful and tragic tactics of 'passing the buck' to one another; and of their childish expectation that providence, or some power external to themselves, would come to their rescue and save them from the consequences of their refusal to look into the future, foresee events that loomed black in the sky, plain to be seen, and take such steps as were possible to mitigate the fury of the storm. The severity of the condemnation will be measured by the extent of the power which was not used and the responsibility that was denied." - Winnipeg Free Press, March 18, 1933
- First words
- Nobody could tell exactly when it began and nobody could predict when it would end.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Now it was history.
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 269
- Popularity
- 120,058
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.06)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
