Hard Times presents a comprehensive account of economic depressions in America, from colonial times to the “great recession” that began in 2008. Written in crisp prose for a general audience, the book synthesizes a narrative account—presenting the known facts about how particular depressions started, the effects upon people in different walks of life, the policy debates about what (if anything) to do in order to ameliorate the situation, and how these depressions ended—with analytical commentary on the economic patterns underlying and transcending depressions and the debates among economists and policymakers in regard to their causes. While these economic downturns have created suffering and hardship, Striner also conveys how Americans have always endured and rebounded from hard times.

Richard Striner is professor of history at Washington College and the author of Woodrow Wilson and World War I: A Burden too Great to Bear (2014) and Lincoln’s Way: How Six Great Presidents Created American Power (2010), a History Book Club selection, as well as Father Abraham: Lincoln’s Relentless Struggle to End Slavery (2006).