Craufurd D. Goodwin was James B. Duke Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Duke University.

It is unusual for a historical narrative to feature a journalist. Yet…Goodwin employs the writings of the once-famous newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann to describe the fervid U.S. debates that began with the 1929 stock-market crash. The device works beautifully. Lippmann, who wrote from 1931 to 1967, was so prolific, and his correspondence with other thinkers and decision makers was so cogent and extensive, that his oeuvre provides excellent material for examining a crucial moment in American history and essential aspects of the American economy, as hotly debated today as in Lippmann’s time…[An] insightful chronicle.

Craufurd D. Goodwin was James B. Duke Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Duke University.

It is unusual for a historical narrative to feature a journalist. Yet…Goodwin employs the writings of the once-famous newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann to describe the fervid U.S. debates that began with the 1929 stock-market crash. The device works beautifully. Lippmann, who wrote from 1931 to 1967, was so prolific, and his correspondence with other thinkers and decision makers was so cogent and extensive, that his oeuvre provides excellent material for examining a crucial moment in American history and essential aspects of the American economy, as hotly debated today as in Lippmann’s time…[An] insightful chronicle.

Craufurd D. Goodwin was James B. Duke Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Duke University.

It is unusual for a historical narrative to feature a journalist. Yet…Goodwin employs the writings of the once-famous newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann to describe the fervid U.S. debates that began with the 1929 stock-market crash. The device works beautifully. Lippmann, who wrote from 1931 to 1967, was so prolific, and his correspondence with other thinkers and decision makers was so cogent and extensive, that his oeuvre provides excellent material for examining a crucial moment in American history and essential aspects of the American economy, as hotly debated today as in Lippmann’s time…[An] insightful chronicle.