The Great Depression and the New Deal. By Robert F. Himmelberg. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001. Pp. xxii, 184. $39.95

In this new addition to the Greenwood Guides to Historic Events of the Twentieth Century, Robert Himmelberg does a masterful job of creating the kind of teaching and reference tool that the series aims to provide. Following the prescribed format, he moves from a chronology and narrative overview of, topical essays on, and evaluative conclusions about the Great Depression and New Deal to sections containing biographical profiles and primary documents, a glossary of selected terms, a photo essay, and an annotated bibliography. In doing so, he draws upon an extensive knowledge and sophisticated understanding of the subject, its historiography, and what is involved in teaching it. And the result is a remarkably full realization of what series guidelines have called for, namely a reliable and readable book illuminating a “defining” historical event, up to date in its evidence and analysis, and so constructed as to serve both as a work of reference and a history in its own right. The book should be particularly useful for secondary-school- and college-student research, as preparatory reading for classroom discussions, and as a ready reference and introductory guide in public and academic libraries and on instructors' bookshelves.