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The Big Change: America Transforms Itself, 1900-50
Frederick Lewis Allen was one of the pioneers in social history. Best known as the author of Only Yesterday, Allen originated a model of what is sometimes called instant history, the reconstruction of past eras through vivid commentary on the news, fashions, customs, and artifacts that altered the pace and forms of American life. The Big Change was Allen's last and most ambitious book. In it he attempted to chart and explain the progressive evolution of American life over half a century. Written at a time of unprecedented optimism and prosperity, The Big Change defines a transformative moment in American history and provides an implicit and illuminating perspective on what has taken place in the second half of the twentieth century.Allen's theme is the realization, in large measure, of the promise of democracy. As against the strain of social criticism that saw America as enfeebled by affluence and conformity, Allen wrote in praise of an economic system that had ushered in a new age of well being for the American people. He divides his inquiry into three major sections. The first, 'The Old Order,' portrays the turn-of-the-century plutocracy in which the federal government was largely subservient to business interests and the gap between rich and poor portended a real possibility of bloody rebellion. 'The Momentum of Change' graphically describes the various forces that gradually transformed the country in the new mass production, the automobile, the Great Depression and the coming of big government, World War II and America's emergence as a world power. Against this background, Allen shows how the economic system was reformed without being ruined, and how social gaps began to steadily close.The concluding section, 'The New America,' is a hopeful assessment of postwar American culture. Allen's analysis takes critical issue with many common perceptions, both foreign and domestic, of American life and places remaining social problems in careful perspective. As William O'Neill remarks in his introduction to this new edition, The Big Change is both a deep and wonderfully readable work of social commentary, a book that gains rather than loses with the years.
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
About the author
Frederick Lewis Allen
63 books79 followersA graduate of Groton, Frederick Lewis Allen graduated from Harvard in 1912 and earned his master's from there in 1913. Allen was assistant and associate editor of Harper's Magazine for eighteen years, then the magazine's sixth editor in chief from 1941 until shortly before his death. He was also known for a series of contemporary histories that were published during a period of growing interest in the subject among the reading public.
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January 1, 2023
The subtitle of this book is “America Transforms Itself.” That is a great description of the theme that the author returns to again and again in this book. From the Reform Movement during the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt to the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt Americans found that they could make small gradual changes to address problems in their country. He uses the Metaphor of an automobile engine that might need an occasionally adjustment to the carburetor or a new spark plug to keep the engine running smoothly to describe how a small change to the country’s social problem, or problem with the government or the economy could correct its course. A revolution like the one that destroyed Russia was not necessary.
This book is a social history. There is no description of any presidential election, any acts of Congress, or the military campaigns during the two World Wars. What it does describe is the changes that the people of the United States experienced during the first half of the Twentieth Century. And this was a time of enormous change.
I have spent the year 2022 reading histories of the FDR era. This book is an excellent summary of the advances this country made in solving many of its economic problems.
In the nineteenth century the federal government was small and very limited in what it could do. This left businesses to operate as they pleased. The Iron Law of Wages meant that the individual worker had to work for whatever wage the employer chose to pay. This resulted in an enormous share of the wealth going to the employer. At the turn of the century America had become a land where millionaires had more and more and everyone else had less and less. This outraged the democratic spirit of the country which saw sharply defined social and economic classes as an offense to the American democratic ideal. The reform movement set to work to make changes, not by revolution, but by small, experimental changes to the system. When things broke down during the Great Depression changes became more drastic, some were foolish, “but the basic principle of non revolutionary and experimental change prevailed.” (Page 290) Roosevelt sought to mend our economic ills by reasoned experimentation within the framework of the existing social system.
As World War II broke out the federal government poured billions of dollars into the economy and found that the system ran smooth and fast. When the war was over and governmental spending slowed down, the system continued to run smoothly. The reason was that a combination of small revisions to the system had repealed the Iron Law of Wages: tax laws, minimum wage laws, subsidies and guarantees, regulations and a change in the attitude of business management. Businesses benefited from the improvements in national income to lower income groups. This enabled them to buy more goods which benefited everyone.
But the author isn’t done yet. In the last section of this book he makes an abrupt change to a sociological essay about what this economic prosperity meant for life in America in 1950. Although not as interesting as the history of this period there were some interesting points for discussion. I thought some of his opinions here were a little outdated.
He discusses a comparison made by the President of Harvard of the differences between two ancient civilizations: Greece and Carthage. The influence of Greece lives on in our memories, whereas Carthage has left no imprint. In contrast with Greece, Carthage had little respect for learning, philosophy, or the arts. Was America in danger of becoming a Carthage?
In the minds of many intellectuals, both at home and abroad, America was seen as the “cesspool of vulgarity”. “It has been producing a mass culture in which religion and philosophy languish, the arts are smothered by the barbarian demands of mass entertainment, freedom is constricted by the dead weight of mass opinion, and the life of the spirit wanes.” (Page 264)
However, the essay continues to describe instead a “seedbed of excellence.” That many people fail to see America (at that time) as a country of broadening opportunity.
The role of the corporations had changed from the tycoon-run affair at the turn-of-the-century to a more socially conscious member of society. He credits this to the diminished reputation businessmen had at the depths of the depression and to the cooperation that businesses showed with government and the public during the war years.
There was a decline in the influence of religion. Although church membership remained the same or higher, attendance at church services on Sunday mornings was lower. Instead of being a factor in the moral upbringing and character of church members, it became more of a social function providing sports teams, music groups and plays for its members.
He takes on the arts explaining the changes and attitudes towards music, literature, art and architecture. He notes that classical music gained appreciation, and that phonograph records which had been declared dead with the arrival of radio had a revival as people wanted to enjoy music on their own terms.
The ideal of equality of educational opportunity had been generally accepted. No longer are the European centers of learning the only option. Students from everywhere in the world flock to the colleges and universities in the United States. Our position as a leading developer in the fields of science, medicine and technology is well known.
Although the experience of life in America in the first half of the Twentieth Century was at times harsh, we can be proud of the accomplishment that these changes made to the country. The author urges at the end of this book that we continue to invent, improve and change in the second half of the century.
He did not foresee the assassinations of the 1960s, or the election of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
This book is a social history. There is no description of any presidential election, any acts of Congress, or the military campaigns during the two World Wars. What it does describe is the changes that the people of the United States experienced during the first half of the Twentieth Century. And this was a time of enormous change.
I have spent the year 2022 reading histories of the FDR era. This book is an excellent summary of the advances this country made in solving many of its economic problems.
In the nineteenth century the federal government was small and very limited in what it could do. This left businesses to operate as they pleased. The Iron Law of Wages meant that the individual worker had to work for whatever wage the employer chose to pay. This resulted in an enormous share of the wealth going to the employer. At the turn of the century America had become a land where millionaires had more and more and everyone else had less and less. This outraged the democratic spirit of the country which saw sharply defined social and economic classes as an offense to the American democratic ideal. The reform movement set to work to make changes, not by revolution, but by small, experimental changes to the system. When things broke down during the Great Depression changes became more drastic, some were foolish, “but the basic principle of non revolutionary and experimental change prevailed.” (Page 290) Roosevelt sought to mend our economic ills by reasoned experimentation within the framework of the existing social system.
As World War II broke out the federal government poured billions of dollars into the economy and found that the system ran smooth and fast. When the war was over and governmental spending slowed down, the system continued to run smoothly. The reason was that a combination of small revisions to the system had repealed the Iron Law of Wages: tax laws, minimum wage laws, subsidies and guarantees, regulations and a change in the attitude of business management. Businesses benefited from the improvements in national income to lower income groups. This enabled them to buy more goods which benefited everyone.
But the author isn’t done yet. In the last section of this book he makes an abrupt change to a sociological essay about what this economic prosperity meant for life in America in 1950. Although not as interesting as the history of this period there were some interesting points for discussion. I thought some of his opinions here were a little outdated.
He discusses a comparison made by the President of Harvard of the differences between two ancient civilizations: Greece and Carthage. The influence of Greece lives on in our memories, whereas Carthage has left no imprint. In contrast with Greece, Carthage had little respect for learning, philosophy, or the arts. Was America in danger of becoming a Carthage?
In the minds of many intellectuals, both at home and abroad, America was seen as the “cesspool of vulgarity”. “It has been producing a mass culture in which religion and philosophy languish, the arts are smothered by the barbarian demands of mass entertainment, freedom is constricted by the dead weight of mass opinion, and the life of the spirit wanes.” (Page 264)
However, the essay continues to describe instead a “seedbed of excellence.” That many people fail to see America (at that time) as a country of broadening opportunity.
The role of the corporations had changed from the tycoon-run affair at the turn-of-the-century to a more socially conscious member of society. He credits this to the diminished reputation businessmen had at the depths of the depression and to the cooperation that businesses showed with government and the public during the war years.
There was a decline in the influence of religion. Although church membership remained the same or higher, attendance at church services on Sunday mornings was lower. Instead of being a factor in the moral upbringing and character of church members, it became more of a social function providing sports teams, music groups and plays for its members.
He takes on the arts explaining the changes and attitudes towards music, literature, art and architecture. He notes that classical music gained appreciation, and that phonograph records which had been declared dead with the arrival of radio had a revival as people wanted to enjoy music on their own terms.
The ideal of equality of educational opportunity had been generally accepted. No longer are the European centers of learning the only option. Students from everywhere in the world flock to the colleges and universities in the United States. Our position as a leading developer in the fields of science, medicine and technology is well known.
Although the experience of life in America in the first half of the Twentieth Century was at times harsh, we can be proud of the accomplishment that these changes made to the country. The author urges at the end of this book that we continue to invent, improve and change in the second half of the century.
He did not foresee the assassinations of the 1960s, or the election of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
July 14, 2016
Summary: A social history of the United States from 1900 to 1950 chronicling the expansion of the middle class, the technological changes that occurred, and the impact of two World Wars and the Depression.
Want to know what life was like for your grandparents or great grandparents, and the changes they saw in their lifetimes? This is a great book for understanding what the U.S. was like during the first half of the Twentieth Century. It was fascinating for me, as someone born two years after this work was first published in 1952. The book ends just before I began and the last chapters describe well the Baby Boom years of the early 1950s, and describe well the changes my own parents saw in their growing up years.
Frederick Lewis Allen was a popular, rather than academic historian who served in a variety of editorial positions including editor-in-chief of Harpers Magazine from 1941 until shortly before his death in February of 1954. He was a contemporary of such popular historians as Allen Nevins, Douglas Southall Freeman, Bernard DeVoto, and Carl Sandburg. The Big Change was his last work, and a National Book Award finalist in 1953. He also wrote histories on the decades of the 1920's (Only Yesterday) and 1930's (Since Yesterday) as well as an economic history of the U.S. from 1890 up to the Depression (The Lords of Creation). All of these works have been re-published recently by Open Road Integrated Media.
While not having read the other works, I sense that this book is a synthesis of all of them that not only summarizes each of the periods covered by the others, but does so with an eye to the transformation of the United States from an economy with a small percent of very rich who lived in extravagant homes and vast disparities of wealth and poverty to a post-World War II economy with a huge expansion of consumer goods, mass communication via radio and TV, and changing cities with the vast migrations from rural to urban setting, including Blacks (called Negroes in Allen's time) from the Jim Crow South.
The first part of the book covers the beginning of this period, describing the technology of the period, including the beginnings of the automobile age, the robber barons and their wealth and a relatively limited government, at least until Teddy Roosevelt. Part two chronicles the changes Roosevelt and the muckrakers brought, the growth of mass production, including the revolution Henry Ford led, the 1920's as the last gasp of the old order, the grinding experience of the Depression, and the acceleration of economic and social change brought on by the war experience. The third part talks gives an economic and social description of the country at the end of the period, describing the growing middle class, the reduction of wealth disparities due to progressive taxes, and the alternative form of luxury spending of the period known as the expense account. He also chronicles the leveling influence of education, mass media, and the wide availability of goods once the exclusive preserve of the wealthy.
He concludes with the apprehensions of the early years of the Cold War and McCarthyism, the concerns about an increasingly large government and large corporations, and the growth of educational and economic opportunities for many and the vibrancy of private organizations and individual initiative in the country. Discussions of racial faultlines anticipate both the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's, and the growing affluence anticipates the counter-culture reaction of the later 60's and early 70's.
His style is very readable, even a bit "chatty". The origin of the book was a Harpers article and it has the feel of a well-informed communicator who knows his audience well enough to engage with them directly. Reading this nearly 65 years after it was first published brings home to me how much we have changed since then--the complexities of a post-Soviet, post 9/11 era, the boom in information technology and the interconnectedness of everything, and the social changes of an increasingly diverse nation. This is a transformation I've lived through and makes me wonder who will write "Big Change II." Whoever that may be, Allen's book provides a great jumping-off point.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Want to know what life was like for your grandparents or great grandparents, and the changes they saw in their lifetimes? This is a great book for understanding what the U.S. was like during the first half of the Twentieth Century. It was fascinating for me, as someone born two years after this work was first published in 1952. The book ends just before I began and the last chapters describe well the Baby Boom years of the early 1950s, and describe well the changes my own parents saw in their growing up years.
Frederick Lewis Allen was a popular, rather than academic historian who served in a variety of editorial positions including editor-in-chief of Harpers Magazine from 1941 until shortly before his death in February of 1954. He was a contemporary of such popular historians as Allen Nevins, Douglas Southall Freeman, Bernard DeVoto, and Carl Sandburg. The Big Change was his last work, and a National Book Award finalist in 1953. He also wrote histories on the decades of the 1920's (Only Yesterday) and 1930's (Since Yesterday) as well as an economic history of the U.S. from 1890 up to the Depression (The Lords of Creation). All of these works have been re-published recently by Open Road Integrated Media.
While not having read the other works, I sense that this book is a synthesis of all of them that not only summarizes each of the periods covered by the others, but does so with an eye to the transformation of the United States from an economy with a small percent of very rich who lived in extravagant homes and vast disparities of wealth and poverty to a post-World War II economy with a huge expansion of consumer goods, mass communication via radio and TV, and changing cities with the vast migrations from rural to urban setting, including Blacks (called Negroes in Allen's time) from the Jim Crow South.
The first part of the book covers the beginning of this period, describing the technology of the period, including the beginnings of the automobile age, the robber barons and their wealth and a relatively limited government, at least until Teddy Roosevelt. Part two chronicles the changes Roosevelt and the muckrakers brought, the growth of mass production, including the revolution Henry Ford led, the 1920's as the last gasp of the old order, the grinding experience of the Depression, and the acceleration of economic and social change brought on by the war experience. The third part talks gives an economic and social description of the country at the end of the period, describing the growing middle class, the reduction of wealth disparities due to progressive taxes, and the alternative form of luxury spending of the period known as the expense account. He also chronicles the leveling influence of education, mass media, and the wide availability of goods once the exclusive preserve of the wealthy.
He concludes with the apprehensions of the early years of the Cold War and McCarthyism, the concerns about an increasingly large government and large corporations, and the growth of educational and economic opportunities for many and the vibrancy of private organizations and individual initiative in the country. Discussions of racial faultlines anticipate both the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's, and the growing affluence anticipates the counter-culture reaction of the later 60's and early 70's.
His style is very readable, even a bit "chatty". The origin of the book was a Harpers article and it has the feel of a well-informed communicator who knows his audience well enough to engage with them directly. Reading this nearly 65 years after it was first published brings home to me how much we have changed since then--the complexities of a post-Soviet, post 9/11 era, the boom in information technology and the interconnectedness of everything, and the social changes of an increasingly diverse nation. This is a transformation I've lived through and makes me wonder who will write "Big Change II." Whoever that may be, Allen's book provides a great jumping-off point.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
September 22, 2016
2.5 rounded up. The Big Change was a National Book Award finalist back in the day as well as a New York Times bestseller. I was invited to read and review it now that it’s being released in digital form; thanks go to Net Galley and Open Road Integrated Media. I’ve read and reviewed more than 50 titles for this publisher, and they’ve been wonderfully tolerant when I have written less than glowing praise for a book such as this, whose shelf life is well and truly over. This title is available for purchase now.
Allen’s book is written as a popular history. For a lot of people that makes it more accessible than a more scholarly approach would. As for me, I appreciate a citation, and I read those notes to see where the author gets his information. If he’s citing other secondary sources, the obvious thing to do is go read the secondary sources instead. If he’s done some real work, puttering from one obscure regional library to another in order to peruse their rare books, original diaries of heroes long gone, and so forth then I know I have found a researcher who can do me some good.
But for those delving into this period for the first time, this is in most regards a sound overview of the period in question, kind of like a contemporary history 101 for white men. Allen covers the turn of the century, when capitalism was unchecked and unashamed; The Progressive Era and World Wars I and II; the Depression, and the postwar boom. He devotes some of his space to the huge labor struggles and mentions the IWW (International Workers of the World, or ‘Wobblies’). The uses a friendly, readable tone and if there had been any women or people of color anywhere, anywhere, anywhere (other than a quick nod to suffrage) I might have found another star. Or half a star.
Having said that, I should also point out that Allen was not especially conservative or reactionary in comparison to other historical writers during the 1950’s, which is when he wrote and published this. In fact, anyone that did include women in a more than passing manner, or that included people of color, was considered a radical by many. Most academics would have laughed at them. So it’s all about context; some best sellers of the past, such as the Pulitzer winning Bearing the Cross, David J Garrow’s biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, just get better with time; others, like this title, have a more limited shelf life.
I’d recommend this title to those with a special interest in the time period, but only as supplementary material.
Allen’s book is written as a popular history. For a lot of people that makes it more accessible than a more scholarly approach would. As for me, I appreciate a citation, and I read those notes to see where the author gets his information. If he’s citing other secondary sources, the obvious thing to do is go read the secondary sources instead. If he’s done some real work, puttering from one obscure regional library to another in order to peruse their rare books, original diaries of heroes long gone, and so forth then I know I have found a researcher who can do me some good.
But for those delving into this period for the first time, this is in most regards a sound overview of the period in question, kind of like a contemporary history 101 for white men. Allen covers the turn of the century, when capitalism was unchecked and unashamed; The Progressive Era and World Wars I and II; the Depression, and the postwar boom. He devotes some of his space to the huge labor struggles and mentions the IWW (International Workers of the World, or ‘Wobblies’). The uses a friendly, readable tone and if there had been any women or people of color anywhere, anywhere, anywhere (other than a quick nod to suffrage) I might have found another star. Or half a star.
Having said that, I should also point out that Allen was not especially conservative or reactionary in comparison to other historical writers during the 1950’s, which is when he wrote and published this. In fact, anyone that did include women in a more than passing manner, or that included people of color, was considered a radical by many. Most academics would have laughed at them. So it’s all about context; some best sellers of the past, such as the Pulitzer winning Bearing the Cross, David J Garrow’s biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, just get better with time; others, like this title, have a more limited shelf life.
I’d recommend this title to those with a special interest in the time period, but only as supplementary material.
July 22, 2018
The Big Change: America Transforms Itself: 1900-1950 - Frederick Lewis Allen
First, I wish to thank NetGalley and Open Road Media for the opportunity to read this digital e-book in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.
A funny thing happened when I requested Frederick Lewis Allen’s book, The Big Change: America Transforms Itself: 1900-1950 , Revised Edition, July, 2016. I thought that I was requesting a work of history, but little did I know that I was actually requesting a history book and a book documenting social change in our society immediately following “The Guilded Years” Era and moving from a highly volatile and constantly changing time period in American History, the years 1900-1950. This was one of those mistakes that I did not regret.
Lewis, a writer with Harper’s Magazine, originally wrote this book in 1952. Open Road Media re-released this book in July, 2016. This is an extremely interesting book that is extremely viable to understanding today’s society. The years covered in The Big Change: helped bring the United States to its place in the world today. As Lewis states in the appendix of this work:
“The Big Change is primarily a summary, arrangement, analysis, and interpretation of reasonably familiar rather than a journey of historical exploration … “
Thus, Allen writes a great deal about the social changes that occurred during the years 1900-1950, as well as religious, and political changes and how they helped to shape history during these years. This proves to be very interesting as it really makes the reader think at times. For example, Hitler was making a strong charge in the 1930’s. We were experiencing “The Great Depression” after the collaspe of the banking system and the stock market crash of 1929. Prior to this, America had been known as a stalwart of conservatism. The people would own the businesses as they were better qualified to mange them that the government. The people would work themselves out of their woes; everyone would pull their own, rich or poor. Socialism and the idea of the state being involved with and owning businesses and taking care of those who could not take care of themselves was beginning to take a foothold. And, the extremely radical idea of communism was taking a small foothold. We basically have a combination of these ideas - mainly conservatism and socialism.
The Big Change covers a lot of important chapters of American history. We begin with Calvin Coodlidge and then Teddy Roosevelt being president, and moving the country away from when people like J. P. Morgan, Rockerfeller, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie were the power brokers of the country, and the common laborer was badly overworked and extremely underpaid. (Morgan even loaned the United States money once.) We worked through The Great War (World War I), and reaped the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties, whose excesses finally caught up with us, and we had the Dust Bowl, banks failed, and the stock market crashed. The Great Depression followed, and FDR helped us to get out of this by creating work relief and the New Deal. Next, Hitler brought us into World War II and out of the Great Depression. Americans went back to work. The Allies won the war and the soldiers returned home. Records were broken in marriages and babies born. Prosperity had returned, and Americans were eating it up. Russia was bringing on the Cold War. Life was shaping the future and the history indeed looked to be repeating itself.
I am very glad that I read The Big Change as I really enjoy history and this type of book. Allen does a very good job of writing about the years 1900-1950. It was enlightening and a re-learning experience, having taken a couple of history classes in college. This is not a book that I read all at once. I read it while I was reading others. This book is probably not for everyone, but if one is a fan on history and sociology, he or she will definitely enjoy this book. I give it a 3.5 stars rating.
First, I wish to thank NetGalley and Open Road Media for the opportunity to read this digital e-book in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.
A funny thing happened when I requested Frederick Lewis Allen’s book, The Big Change: America Transforms Itself: 1900-1950 , Revised Edition, July, 2016. I thought that I was requesting a work of history, but little did I know that I was actually requesting a history book and a book documenting social change in our society immediately following “The Guilded Years” Era and moving from a highly volatile and constantly changing time period in American History, the years 1900-1950. This was one of those mistakes that I did not regret.
Lewis, a writer with Harper’s Magazine, originally wrote this book in 1952. Open Road Media re-released this book in July, 2016. This is an extremely interesting book that is extremely viable to understanding today’s society. The years covered in The Big Change: helped bring the United States to its place in the world today. As Lewis states in the appendix of this work:
“The Big Change is primarily a summary, arrangement, analysis, and interpretation of reasonably familiar rather than a journey of historical exploration … “
Thus, Allen writes a great deal about the social changes that occurred during the years 1900-1950, as well as religious, and political changes and how they helped to shape history during these years. This proves to be very interesting as it really makes the reader think at times. For example, Hitler was making a strong charge in the 1930’s. We were experiencing “The Great Depression” after the collaspe of the banking system and the stock market crash of 1929. Prior to this, America had been known as a stalwart of conservatism. The people would own the businesses as they were better qualified to mange them that the government. The people would work themselves out of their woes; everyone would pull their own, rich or poor. Socialism and the idea of the state being involved with and owning businesses and taking care of those who could not take care of themselves was beginning to take a foothold. And, the extremely radical idea of communism was taking a small foothold. We basically have a combination of these ideas - mainly conservatism and socialism.
The Big Change covers a lot of important chapters of American history. We begin with Calvin Coodlidge and then Teddy Roosevelt being president, and moving the country away from when people like J. P. Morgan, Rockerfeller, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie were the power brokers of the country, and the common laborer was badly overworked and extremely underpaid. (Morgan even loaned the United States money once.) We worked through The Great War (World War I), and reaped the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties, whose excesses finally caught up with us, and we had the Dust Bowl, banks failed, and the stock market crashed. The Great Depression followed, and FDR helped us to get out of this by creating work relief and the New Deal. Next, Hitler brought us into World War II and out of the Great Depression. Americans went back to work. The Allies won the war and the soldiers returned home. Records were broken in marriages and babies born. Prosperity had returned, and Americans were eating it up. Russia was bringing on the Cold War. Life was shaping the future and the history indeed looked to be repeating itself.
I am very glad that I read The Big Change as I really enjoy history and this type of book. Allen does a very good job of writing about the years 1900-1950. It was enlightening and a re-learning experience, having taken a couple of history classes in college. This is not a book that I read all at once. I read it while I was reading others. This book is probably not for everyone, but if one is a fan on history and sociology, he or she will definitely enjoy this book. I give it a 3.5 stars rating.
June 26, 2022
The author died in the early 1950's, so he was witness to what he wrote. That gave the book an interesting perception.
April 4, 2016
I'm a big fan of Frederick Lewis Allen. He was the editor of Harper's Magazine for about 12 years, so there's a lot of his stuff out there (if you're a Harper's subscriber, you have access to 150 years of magazine archives.) Allen wrote a series of articles for Harper's in 1950, and these became the foundation for his ambitious book.
Allen begins by giving a very convincing account of what life was like in 1900. He provides details that don't normally get into the history books, such as when he speaks of the nervous second-thoughts of millions of people heading to bed: Did I turn off the gas jets? It's small things like that which make this an interesting, informative read. That said, I think this is Allen's weakest book. One of his great gifts was to be able to see the recent past quite objectively. In The Big Change, he manages to do that -- right up until he hits the post-war period, when he swings into what can only be described as hucksterism. He can be forgiven for his effusive praise of everything American. After all, he lived through the 1920s, 30s, and the Second World War: he certainly had never seen anything as good as post-war America, and neither had anyone else. But I lost interest in the last quarter of the book because of the rather embarrassing absence of objectivity.
I doubt many readers will discover the joys of this book. It's dated, for sure, but it shouldn't be neglected. Allen writes with such grace and polish: it's a joy to read his words. And most of what he has to say in this book is certainly worth thinking about.
Allen begins by giving a very convincing account of what life was like in 1900. He provides details that don't normally get into the history books, such as when he speaks of the nervous second-thoughts of millions of people heading to bed: Did I turn off the gas jets? It's small things like that which make this an interesting, informative read. That said, I think this is Allen's weakest book. One of his great gifts was to be able to see the recent past quite objectively. In The Big Change, he manages to do that -- right up until he hits the post-war period, when he swings into what can only be described as hucksterism. He can be forgiven for his effusive praise of everything American. After all, he lived through the 1920s, 30s, and the Second World War: he certainly had never seen anything as good as post-war America, and neither had anyone else. But I lost interest in the last quarter of the book because of the rather embarrassing absence of objectivity.
I doubt many readers will discover the joys of this book. It's dated, for sure, but it shouldn't be neglected. Allen writes with such grace and polish: it's a joy to read his words. And most of what he has to say in this book is certainly worth thinking about.
January 20, 2022
These are interesting times in which to read Frederick Lewis Allen's "The Big Change: America Transforms Itself 1900-1950" Revised ed. Edition. Originally written in 1952, it is being re-released in July 2016. Allen was an editor at Harper's and historian of American society, and in this ambitious work, he maps the development of American life during the 50 years listed in the title. What makes it a particularly fascinating read is that the book was written during a time of unprecedented optimism and prosperity in American life. Post-war America was a booming America. It is a look at a time when Americans believed that democracy would pay on its promise of that now seeming elusive American dream. It is a work of social commentary, and depending on how you read it, you might find the work a charming look at yesteryear or a very sad reminder at what America has become. The premise of the book is that the promise is there, but our current reality makes it much harder to see it. Perhaps another look at "The Big Change" will allow readers to glimpses the dream once again.
Thanks to NetGalley and Open Road Media for the opportunity to read the work.
Thanks to NetGalley and Open Road Media for the opportunity to read the work.
November 12, 2008
An interesting, evenhanded review of the years 1900-1950, written in the early 1950s. Covers a lot of ground in an easy, readable style, though some of his judgments might strike a modern reader as hopelessly naive and a Christian reader as too hopeful in what secular humanity can deliver.
April 13, 2011
A very interesting treatise on the socio-political, fashion, economic, & cultural history of the US from 1900 to 1950. A worthwhile read for the student interested in how America evolved in the first half of the 20th century.
May 22, 2020
3.5 truly, because this thing drags around the 30% mark. To be fair I was expecting a book like Since Yesterday, steadily progressing through the indicated time period. Ergo I was getting impatient when at a third of the way through, we were still hovering in the early 1900s. The 20s, 30s, and 40s fly by in a flash, occupying about 10% of the book (disappointingly, the 1918 pandemic wasn't even mentioned). This, I'm sure, is in part because the author has already dedicated a book each to two of those decades.
The second half of the book roots itself in the then-present day, contrasting how society and policy had changed in 50 years as well as the fears of that ca. 1950 publication were founded or not. This is the part that shine for me, because we returned more to social history. (Plus by this point I understood the authors intended pacing.) There's some great observations about capitalism vs socialism still woefully accurate today, but I'd rather focus on a different part.
As I started and finished this during the (presumably only first of several) great Stay At Home period of the 2020 pandemic, I especially appreciated the fears and helplessness of an age that leaders today look back on fondly through rose-tinted glasses. The fears of whether America would be a Carthage or a Greece, whether we had become too dumb and materialistic, whether we had wandered too far astray from properly moral upbringing of children, and woes of sports scandals and corruption in Washington. (Allen firmly works to refute or otherwise put these qualms in perspective or to rest.)
The best exploration is of a general sense of doom pervading society. He mentions coming across a 1938 commencement speech addressing that and remarks on how that was before WW2 (officially), the Cold War, and the atom bomb. A sense of "impending disaster" seems to be consequence of our inability to "[adjust] ourselves emotionally" to a world in which we are subject to the whims of national and international events that we can neither control nor predict, and from which our much vaunted bootstraps and hard work cannot insulate us.
"The businessman making out his budget for the coming year, or signing a long-term contract; the young couple planning marriage; the undergraduate wondering whether to go on to law school -- all are likely to feel that any decision they make carries an implicit rider, 'Unless all hell breaks loose.'"
Such as it was, so shall it always be.
The second half of the book roots itself in the then-present day, contrasting how society and policy had changed in 50 years as well as the fears of that ca. 1950 publication were founded or not. This is the part that shine for me, because we returned more to social history. (Plus by this point I understood the authors intended pacing.) There's some great observations about capitalism vs socialism still woefully accurate today, but I'd rather focus on a different part.
As I started and finished this during the (presumably only first of several) great Stay At Home period of the 2020 pandemic, I especially appreciated the fears and helplessness of an age that leaders today look back on fondly through rose-tinted glasses. The fears of whether America would be a Carthage or a Greece, whether we had become too dumb and materialistic, whether we had wandered too far astray from properly moral upbringing of children, and woes of sports scandals and corruption in Washington. (Allen firmly works to refute or otherwise put these qualms in perspective or to rest.)
The best exploration is of a general sense of doom pervading society. He mentions coming across a 1938 commencement speech addressing that and remarks on how that was before WW2 (officially), the Cold War, and the atom bomb. A sense of "impending disaster" seems to be consequence of our inability to "[adjust] ourselves emotionally" to a world in which we are subject to the whims of national and international events that we can neither control nor predict, and from which our much vaunted bootstraps and hard work cannot insulate us.
"The businessman making out his budget for the coming year, or signing a long-term contract; the young couple planning marriage; the undergraduate wondering whether to go on to law school -- all are likely to feel that any decision they make carries an implicit rider, 'Unless all hell breaks loose.'"
Such as it was, so shall it always be.
January 15, 2019
Frederick Lewis Allen has written much about the first half of the 20th century. His earlier two books, ONLY YESTERDAY , and SINCE YESTERDY, are classics for the 20s and 30s. I read both of these when in grad school in mid 1960s. THE BIG CHANGE, takes this period to 1950 enlightening the reader more on the first 30 years and adding much to the final 20 years. He presents the accomplishments and failures during this period. He pulls no punches of those he thinks are responsible for both failures and accomplishments. High school history teachers and college instructors would do well to have all three of these books required reading by their students.
I gave the book 4 stars, instead of 5, due to, what I thought, was an over abundance of statistics in the last 50 or so pages.
I gave the book 4 stars, instead of 5, due to, what I thought, was an over abundance of statistics in the last 50 or so pages.
July 9, 2020
I had read the authors two books about the 1920s and 30s earlier in my life and liked them very much. These were my first introductions to those two decades, never learning much about them in school, and I’ve remembered them all of these years. So when this book showed up somewhere recently I thought I would enjoy it. I did enjoy it. At this stage of my life I’ve read much more and this book seemed much more superficial than the others to me. Since it is covering a longer timespan it necessarily provides less depth of information. And analysis. The author was also trying to make a point, I believe, that the US had actually made a lot of progress over the 50 years, despite the Great Depression and WWII. It is an easy read and a good introduction to the period, and we did make a lot of material progress when compared to 1900.
September 17, 2018
The early chapters were the most interesting ones and were worth reading. I enjoyed learning about the Gilded Age and the huge disparities between the elite and the regular people in the cities. It has a lot of economic history along with social history insights about the trusts and reforms. The weakest chapters had to do with the 1950s. The book was written then, so the author speaks about the decade as a contemporary observation. Thus it lacked historical perspective. It was very cliched about the 1950s corporate man and adds little to the book.
June 27, 2020
I enjoyed the book like I always do with his however, the figures quoted were compared from 1900 and 1950 mostly. The book was published in 1952 so the numbers don't seem relevant since we have no comparison to 2020.
July 27, 2023
Fascinating history of how the lives of Americans changed during the period 1900-1950. Provides lots of food for thought. Well written.
March 26, 2008
Going well so far. Not quite so enlightening as Only Yesterday, but that may be because I'm recovering recently tread ground here. The account of domestic restraint with regards to patriotism during WWII was completely new to me, and almost inspiring.
-Finished it and found the conclusion immensely stirring. Terms that are still tossed about casually now are recognized fifty years ago as outdated. Terms like capitalism, socialism, radical, and conservative do not really describe anything at work in the real world, but rather ideas that were closest to reality in the nineteenth century and have since morphed into the current state of affairs that have no name.
The entire analogy of America as an engine that allows itself to be tinkered with while running starts a little hokey, but turns out to be poignant.
-Finished it and found the conclusion immensely stirring. Terms that are still tossed about casually now are recognized fifty years ago as outdated. Terms like capitalism, socialism, radical, and conservative do not really describe anything at work in the real world, but rather ideas that were closest to reality in the nineteenth century and have since morphed into the current state of affairs that have no name.
The entire analogy of America as an engine that allows itself to be tinkered with while running starts a little hokey, but turns out to be poignant.
July 30, 2010
Haha, there's nothing like reading a book about the big changes in the United States that was written in 1952. This guy clearly laments the lack of the ten course meal (and the rise of something he calls "the casserole dinner party) and the rising acceptability of blue jeans among young people. There's no real reason to read this, as the changes that have occurred are traced in better volumes, but his style is ridiculous.
As is the entire chapter on African Americans, in which he mentions slavery, and Jim Crow but concludes that since a couple of colleges have integrated, there's not many more problems to solve on that front. And I just practically shouted, hold on to your hat Fredrick Allen, you ain't seen nothing yet.
As is the entire chapter on African Americans, in which he mentions slavery, and Jim Crow but concludes that since a couple of colleges have integrated, there's not many more problems to solve on that front. And I just practically shouted, hold on to your hat Fredrick Allen, you ain't seen nothing yet.
December 16, 2008
Great cultural-popular history that looks at changes in America, 1900-1950, from the vantage point of 1951! Amazing how Allen gets historical perspective on events of the (to him) very recent past.
December 23, 2019
From the late 19th century Gilded Age puritan liberalism to the mid-20th century mass Freudian Fordist America right before the post-industrial countercultural apocalypse.
April 29, 2017
Thank you Frederick Lewis Allen for furthering the historian's reputation for being a BORING writer!
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