He so clearly appreciates history’s sweep.” Burns’ vigorous narrative is rich in genuinely engaging anecdote. “Burns’ territory stretches far and wide across the realms of politics, Prohibition, pop culture and more…An eminently readable, informative book.” He also finds parallels with many issues and ‘civil wrongs’ still running through our landscape: terrorism, immigration, women’s rights, political corruption, and tabloid culture.” Burns convincingly dispels a number of popular beliefs, including the idea that the ‘ignoble experiment’ of Prohibition was solely responsible for the birth of organized crime in America. “A work of genuine historical research, colorful personality, intellectual sophistication, heft, and durable interest.”
“Burns delivers history with flair and vividness.” And though people today imagine the frivolous image of the flapper dancing the night away, the truth was that a new kind of power had been bestowed on women, and it had nothing to do with the dance floor.įrom prohibition to immigration, the birth of jazz, the rise of expatriate literature, and the original Ponzi scheme, 1920 was truly a year like no other. Meanwhile, African Americans were putting their stamp on culture. And while 1920 is thought of as the beginning of a prosperous era, for most people life had never been more unaffordable. Despite being the first full year of armistice, 1920 was not a peaceful period-it contained the greatest act of terrorism in American history to that time.
1920 foreshadowed the rest of the twentieth century and the early years of the twenty-first, whether it was Sacco and Vanzetti or the stock market crash that brought this era to a close.īurns sets the record straight about this most misunderstood and iconic of periods.
But how did this surge of innovation and cultural milestones emerge out of the ashes of World War I?Īcclaimed author Eric Burns investigates the year 1920, which was not only a crucial twelve-month period of its own, but one that foretold the future. The Roaring Twenties is the only decade in American history with a widely applied nickname, and our collective fascination with this era continues. One of the most dynamic eras in American history, the 1920s began with a watershed year that would set the tone for the century to follow.
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