American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work Paperback – February 24, 2009

This is an excellent book and a great addition to history. I knew very little about the Worker's Progress Association until I saw the author speak about his book on Book TV. I was ignorant of the great works that the WPA did and had always had a negative view of the WPA. Since I have read the book I have talked with several people whose parents actually worked for the WPA and heard wonderful stories of their work. One woman told me of her widowed mother with 5 children who sewed every day for the WPA. She said her mother was able to buy food and clothes for them because of this employment. This truly is an enlightening book and very well written. I enjoyed it immensely.

This detailed account of FDR's handling of the Depression and America's role in WWII is so well written that the many details flow and result in a hefty book that is a page turner. Informative, interesting, and valuable to see what bold and beneficial leadership looks like.

Writerly passion and interest can even inform a dry subject like the Works Progress Administration (WPA).In "American Made: When FDR Put the Nation to Work," Nick Taylor takes what might be food for only the wonkiest among us and gives a fighting chance with those who merely like an interesting story.Lists and data are inevitable in a book about a public works project and so we are often exposed to paragraphs detailing the 5,000 bridges built, 70,000 zillion miles of road paved, one million people vaccinated etc. etc.Not that this is without merit. Conveying a story, Taylor must-needs wrestle with the second job of assembling an accurate historical document to support his conclusion that the ordinary folks of the WPA "proved to be extraordinary beyond all expectation."The literary calculus here entails providing a political context for the WPA narrative, a focus on some of the agency's more colorful exploits, and the depiction of a nation brought to its knees by government neglect, rather than cataloguing every single deed done.By way of background, the WPA was the newly inaugurated Franklin Delano Roosevelt's effort to provide some of the Great Depression's many unemployed millions a job."American Made," enjoyed a special relevance over the past few months as the Obama administration dug deep into our pockets to finance projects that would both stimulate the economy and put idle hands to doing some long-overdue repairs all around the country.New Deal comparisons were inevitable.The book makes clear that, politically, little in the United States has changed over the past 80 years or so.In an all-too-familiar role, the Republican Party of those times choked on its own insistence all economic issues be sorted out by the free market, while it supporters belittled WPA workers as bums looking for a handout.Last week the highway scribe saw a bumper stick in Republican north county San Diego that read: "I voted for a hero, not a handout."Same as it ever was."American Made" makes clear that, when Roosevelt could squeeze money for WPA projects out of Congress, unemployment went down and economic prosperity rose. In subsequent years, when budget balancing took precedent, the whole enchilada tanked once again.Taylor does a nice job of fleshing out the major personality behind the WPA, administrator Harry Hopkins, whose book, "Spending to Save," serves as a perfect textual response to present day budget hawks and Bible for deficit defenders such as New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.But it is the stories of the little people writ large by their efforts on WPA projects that gives the book its life.These include the story of a famed international chef reduced to assuming the cooking duties in the work camp at the Timberline Lodge in Oregon.Another tells of an Appalachian women driven to the WPA rolls and charged with delivering used books on horseback to back country folk suffering as much from mental malnutrition as physical.The recounting of John Houseman and Orson Welles launching a voodoo-infused version of MacBeth in Harlem brings to life New York culture of the time, details left-wing infiltration in Gotham's WPA branch, and shows how Republicans and Democrats alike used it as a springboard for a rollback of New Dealism, and worse, McCarthyism.Chapters recounting terrible natural disaster impacting a beleaguered nation are pregnant with commentary on the importance of never wasting human desire to thrive, be useful, and live with some dignity.These chapters attest to the potential dividends yielded by investing in human capital and to the virtue of the democratic project when it is working best.The author smoothly lays out transitions in the political environment while successfully linking them to changes within the WPA itself.The New Deal and the times in which it unfolded were not static, but ever ebbing and flowing. Nick Taylor's book does a fine job of capturing the personalities, the issues that moved them, the tenor and pitch of the debate surrounding.

Our response to first the Depression, then in relatively quick succession, the Second World War is the greatest American story other than the Revolution. The fact that America's industrial might and psyche were awakened in advance of the need to gear up for the war. made a huge difference in our ability to turn plowshares in to swords in a matter of precious months, as we skirted direct conflict. The magnificent conversion to win the war to preserve democracy was started by programs such as the WPA.

This book is an excellent and exciting review of WPA projects and the black lash that came from having such a program. This book is very readable non fiction. Each chapter is a different story that winds up the full story before you know it. I love books that are written in that format. Thank you Nick taylor for bringing this wonderful book to us.

I love this book. Easy to read and follow, it paints the picture of a time in our history when we knew Government could do ANYTHING -- from winning a war to putting the nation back on its feet in a better way. FDR believed in government for the people and he found the people who helped him make government work. FDR was a giant of a President.

Purchased this book, short notice, for an oral report in university history. Got me over the top, as far as information, and gave me some keen insights into the WRA, and other items I needed. The report garnered an "A", so was worth every penny spent. Great book.

I was very excited to read this book, as I had seen an exhibit at the Smithsonian of fine art created as part of the WPA. Initially the book seemed to fit the bill, but the further I got the more it seemed like the author had done absolutely exhaustive research and couldn't bear to leave anything out! It is very informative, and very thorough, and I learned a ton about an historic episode that has great parallels to the current "Great Recession." But it was not a very enjoyable reading experience. The couple of great personal stories were left hanging - until a coda at the end of the book. The effort to introduce some suspense seemed contrived. The writing was not difficult to read or heavy, but it was a bit like wading through the biblical passages of who begat whom, lots of lists of events or projects or names without a cohesive arc of any kind.

Fantastic book, thoroughly enjoyed it.Very eye opening.I feel embarrassed about the present generation.... Great service as far as ordering, communication and delivery 👍

the book is very entertaing and informative as well as comprehensive. It includes pictures, case studies as well as biographical information about the major participants.