The Crisis of the Old Order 1919–1933: The Age of Roosevelt, 1919–1933

The Crisis of the Old Order, 1919–1933 is the first volume of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.'s Age of Roosevelt series, a three-book work interpreting the political, economic, social, and intellectual history of the early twentieth century through the lens of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The book covers the period from the Great War to the Great Depression, examining the Jazz Age and the rise and fall of the cult of business. It portrays a time when prosperity seemed permanent, until the Wall Street crash of October 1929 shattered both economic confidence and public trust in business leadership. Schlesinger combines vivid historical detail with scholarly accuracy to depict the era that produced FDR and his New Deal, fundamentally transforming American public life.