1933: Characters in Crisis: A Pultizer Prize Historian's Portrayal of Men and Events During a Critical Moment in American History

2723 1933: Characters in Crisis, by Herbert Feis (read 26 Mar 1995) The author in 1932 and 1933 was economic advisor in the State Department and in 1966 he published this account of his time there, with particular emphasis on his trip to London in June-July 1933 for the Monetary and Economic Conference. I read Raymond Moley's account of that conference in the Saturday Evening Post in 1939 or 1940, so was well aware of Moley's role in that Conference. Feis does not look at it as Moley did, and in general Feis is critical of Moley and rather admiring (though not approving) of FDR. This book was fun to read, even though it is non-profound and in no way definitive of what he talks about. Feis is admiratory of Henry Stimson (who was show more Secretary of State under Hoover) and apparently rightfully so. William C. Bullitt married John Reed's widow, and was our first ambassador to the Soviet Union--the story of how we came to recognize Russia in 1933 is rather well told in this book. The early thirties were an interesting time and this book was good to read. show less