Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Economic History of the Great Depression -- Recessions, Depressions, and the Business Cycle -- Timing and Severity of the Great Depression -- Gross Domestic Product -- Causes of the Decline -- Stock Market Crash -- Stock Market -- Banking Panics and Monetary Contraction -- The Panics of 1930-33 -- The Role of the Federal Reserve -- Consequences of Monetary Contraction -- The Gold Standard -- International Lending and Trade -- Sources of Recovery -- Works Progress Administration -- Economic Impact -- Chapter 2: Society and Politics in the Great Depression -- Global Concerns -- Casablanca -- Political Movements and Social Change -- Spanish Civil War -- Chapter 3: Artistic and Cultural Expressions of the Great Depression -- The Documentary Impulse -- Federal Arts Programs -- Theatre -- Clifford Odets -- Fiction -- Popular Culture -- Jack Benny -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index -- Back Cover.