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Review
| The Twenties in America: Politics and History, by Niall Palmer. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006. 208 pages. $26.00, paper.
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| The Twenties in America is the latest publication in a paperback series on American Studies done for the British Association for American Studies. According to the series editors, each text is "designed to offer students definitive short surveys of key topics in the field," and they say that Niall Palmer's "revisionist approach to the 1920s in America offers the first balanced account of the history and politics of this much-maligned decade" (back cover). While such lofty claims may sound promising to those looking for readings on the 1920s, this book proves neither "definitive" nor entirely "balanced." Palmer asserts that historians have largely overlooked the twenties, leaving the period primarily to "literary critics and sociologists" because historians are largely "liberal in their political sympathies," and are therefore eager to rush from President Woodrow Wilson's "heroic battle for the League of Nations, to the glorious reign of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal" (p. 2). |
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Palmer claims to provide a more detailed analysis of Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. On this point, Palmer delivers. The book presents an informed overview of these presidential administrations' major political objectives and dealings with Congress that goes beyond most survey accounts of 1920s politics. In this portrait, Harding represents less the hapless scandal-plagued buffoon and more the moderate conservative. Palmer's discussion of Harding's drive for United States membership in the World Court illustrates a determination normally not associated with Harding's presidency. Palmer also points to greater differences between Harding and Coolidge than others have acknowledged. Beyond obvious personality contrasts between an affable Harding and "silent" Cal, Palmer argues that Coolidge represents the classic conservative who attempted to limit government growth (unsuccessfully), to cut taxes (successfully), and refrained from regulating rampant gambling in the stock market (unwisely). |
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Despite Palmer's commendable survey of twenties politics, he relies heavily on secondary sources, many of which are quite out of date, offers no new research, and provides anemic footnotes. Throughout most of the text, it remains unclear from where he draws his information. The historiography of the period becomes clearer in the conclusion; but here Palmer contradicts his earlier pronouncements on historians' neglect of the decade, as well as his earlier misrepresentation of historiography. He reveals that, in fact, there have been numerous recent histories of the decade and not all interpretations of the period have been quick to malign its conservatism. |
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Interspersed with political developments readers will find standard social and cultural topics, yet the narrative lacks cohesiveness in its coverage of major themes. Readers will find familiar discussions of flappers, show trials, technological advances, literature, and movies of the period. Prohibition receives ample treatment, but is broken into disjointed sections: Rationale for passage of the Eighteenth Amendment appears in a section titled "The 'Dry' Decade" from pages 7–10, leaving readers hanging about the problems of enforcement and rising crime rates until page 138. Gender issues receive scant attention, while race and immigration restrictions appear frequently. Palmer also follows a rather unorthodox periodization of the twenties. Granting that decades are often "artificial, chronological divisions" he does not fully justify his decision to end the twenties with the election of Herbert Hoover, overlooking both an analysis of the Hoover administration and the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Ultimately, the work provides no original material, fragments thematic topics in strict adherence to a chronological framework, and discards certain elements crucial to a full understanding of the decade. Its British vocabulary and spelling are also distracting to an American audience. Consequently, scholars will find limited value in the text. Educators may use it as survey reading for undergraduates, if they supplement it with additional material. |
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| California State University, Long Beach |
Donna M. Binkiewicz |
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