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Six days in October : the stock market crash of 1929
Blumenthal, Karen.
Children's Fiction HB3717 1929 .B58 2002
From Publishers' Weekly:
This fast-paced, gripping (and all-too-timely) account of the market crash of October 1929 puts a human face on the crisis. Blumenthal, the Dallas bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, sets the scene in the affluent post-Great War society: she reproduces the famous January 1929 cartoon from Forbes magazine (a frenetic crowd grasping at a ticker tape) and her statement "Executives who had spent their lives building solid reputations cut secret deals in pursuit of their own stock-market riches" may send a shiver down the spines of older readers aware of recent corporate scandals. The author deciphers market terms such as bull and bear, stock and bond in lucidly worded sidebars and describes the convergence of speculation, optimism and greed that primed the market for failure. Throughout, Blumenthal relates the impact of historical developments on everyday citizens. Supported by archival photographs, cartoons and documents, the text is rife with atmospheric detail about the customs of the stock exchange (from buttonhole flowers to the opening and closing gongs). Other asides, such as the first appearance of women on the exchange floor, or the rise (and fall) of immigrant Michael J. Meehan, who championed the stock of Radio Corporation, continue to keep the focus on the human element. Blumenthal ably chronicles the six-day descent and exposes the personalities, backroom machinations and scandals while debunking several popular myths about the crash (e.g., that it caused mass suicide and the Great Depression). A compelling portrait of a defining moment in American history. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
While the market crash of 1929 did not bring on the Great Depression, it stands in the minds of many as the beginning of one of the worst periods in our nation's social and economic history. Something You (Probably) Didn't Know: The Friday before the crash, steel magnate Charles M. Schwab addressed a meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute. He began, "It would probably be quite correct for me to start my remarks to you with the words, 'Friends and former millionaires.'" The worst was still to come. Why It Is for Us: Those who ignore their history are doomed to repeat it. Blumenthal was a bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal and knows how to make economic history interesting. Unfortunately, much of the book reads like current headlines. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Blumenthal, Karen.
Children's Fiction HB3717 1929 .B58 2002
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From Publishers' Weekly:
This fast-paced, gripping (and all-too-timely) account of the market crash of October 1929 puts a human face on the crisis. Blumenthal, the Dallas bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, sets the scene in the affluent post-Great War society: she reproduces the famous January 1929 cartoon from Forbes magazine (a frenetic crowd grasping at a ticker tape) and her statement "Executives who had spent their lives building solid reputations cut secret deals in pursuit of their own stock-market riches" may send a shiver down the spines of older readers aware of recent corporate scandals. The author deciphers market terms such as bull and bear, stock and bond in lucidly worded sidebars and describes the convergence of speculation, optimism and greed that primed the market for failure. Throughout, Blumenthal relates the impact of historical developments on everyday citizens. Supported by archival photographs, cartoons and documents, the text is rife with atmospheric detail about the customs of the stock exchange (from buttonhole flowers to the opening and closing gongs). Other asides, such as the first appearance of women on the exchange floor, or the rise (and fall) of immigrant Michael J. Meehan, who championed the stock of Radio Corporation, continue to keep the focus on the human element. Blumenthal ably chronicles the six-day descent and exposes the personalities, backroom machinations and scandals while debunking several popular myths about the crash (e.g., that it caused mass suicide and the Great Depression). A compelling portrait of a defining moment in American history. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
While the market crash of 1929 did not bring on the Great Depression, it stands in the minds of many as the beginning of one of the worst periods in our nation's social and economic history. Something You (Probably) Didn't Know: The Friday before the crash, steel magnate Charles M. Schwab addressed a meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute. He began, "It would probably be quite correct for me to start my remarks to you with the words, 'Friends and former millionaires.'" The worst was still to come. Why It Is for Us: Those who ignore their history are doomed to repeat it. Blumenthal was a bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal and knows how to make economic history interesting. Unfortunately, much of the book reads like current headlines. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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