New Deal For the American People, A

In this interpretive overview, Roger Biles discusses the factors contributing to the Great Depression and analyzes the federal government's emerging role in public welfare.  Focusing on various segments of society, he assesses New Deal programs in terms of their impact on the lives of the American people, including the working class, women, African Americans, and urban dwellers.  While drawing on scholarship of the past twenty years, he offers fresh insights into the social effects of Roosevelt's policies and stimulates new thinking on the question of whether the reforms preserved the foundation of American federalism or represented a second American revolution.