Edmund O. Stillman

A good summary

This short book gives a good summary of the 1920s. The desire to end the privations of war undercuts Wilson's grandiose peace plan, even though it had inspired the nation previously. The Volstead Act has the opposite effect intended, increasing criminality and encouraging alcohol consumption, increasing the allure of drinking among women, for example.

Finally, it all comes crashing down in 1929. The book briefly mentions the Bonus Army, veterans who descended on Washington to advocate for early delivery service bonus, promised to be paid out in 1945. The Bonus Army did not accomplish what they intended, but ended up staying in what was basically a ramshackle homeless encampment on the Anacostia river. Under orders from President Hoover, the US Army under command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his subordinate Dwight D. Eisenhower, invaded this encampment and fired on unarmed veterans and, in many cases their families. This dirty little episode in the nation's history is not well enough known, which this little book does its part to correct.… (més)