1927, by Gerald Leinwand

Gerald Leinwand
1927
High Tide of the '20s

"Leinwand looks beyond the familiar to excavate America's psyche during that decade. He doesn't shy from what he finds there … He also describes a country in the throes of change. Leinwand … provides invaluable insights into fundamental historical concerns, many of them relevant today. His well-documented research and confident, unobtrusive prose will appeal to anyone interested in U.S. history or cultural studies." — Publishers Weekly

"… [Leinwand] provides a fruitful and fascinating exploration of 1927 … Drawing a series of uncanny parallels between 1927 and the year 2000, he vividly recounts the political, social, and economic milestones that defined a year.… A timely and insightful examination of both a year and a cultural milieu that bear an eerie resemblance to the present day." — A.L.A. Booklist

A roaring stock market, a media obsessed with sex and scandal, a time when the U.S. was the economic and military leader, when new technologies were rocking society, when nothing could go wrong for America: the 1920s bear more than a little semblance to the present, and 1927 is a snapshot of the period.

The world was on the cusp of tremendous changes, and newspapers and radio both created and mangled a slew of rich stories. Charles Lindbergh, Duke Ellington, Babe Ruth, Al Capone, Sacco and Vanzetti and Mae West were in the headlines. "Silent Cal" Coolidge was president, most notable for his lack of doing anything substantial; an up-and-coming politician named Herbert Hoover — U.S. Secretary of Commerce — was laying the groundwork for a presidential bid. The wits at the Algonquin Table quaffed martinis and traded quips. Financial scams, evangelical Christianity, flappers, world peace, schoolyard killings — including the largest in U.S. history — and an underclass left out of an economic boom were among the themes of the day. African Americans were struggling to shake off the legacy of the slave years. The free market was just that, even less restrained than today's, and no end seemed to be in sight to burgeoning prosperity — at least for those on top. A "distant mirror," 1927 holds lessons for us all.

Gerald Leinwand, Ph.D., is President Emeritus of Western Oregon University. Founding Dean of the School of Education at Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York, he is the author of fourteen books, including The Pageant of World History (Prentice Hall). He lives in New York City.