BOOK REVIEW: THE GREAT DEPRESSION A DIARY
Book Reviewed by Patrick Blair on April 27, 2026
The Great Depression A Diary by Benjamin Roth Published in 2025
First Impression Versus Lasting Impression: The book is exactly as it sounds – a diary from someone during the Great Depression. At first, it comes across as a sequence of various events and reflections, but after digesting many years’ worth of the diary, you get a textured picture of the era.
The Book in a Word: Chaos (of the times).
Summary: Benjamin Roth, a lawyer from Youngstown, Ohio, kept a diary of events (starting in 1931) during the Great Depression (1929-1939). The diary records both national and local events; it contains economic and political opinions of the author as well as how the Great Depression affected his law practice. The book is both historical and personal. P.159 “When I started these notes it never occurred to me that the depression would last more than two years.”
What I Liked the Most: The objective and thoughtful recordings of the events of the day. It is one thing to hear historical summaries or economic theories on the Great Depression, but quite another to hear it from a personal perspective.
What I liked the least: The repetitive recounting of certain economic events (but it does give you insight). I learned to skim certain details and focus on more interesting items. I wish the author was more personally expressive as to his feelings and recounting the feelings of others, however, his fact-focused, objective recounting gives the diary more historical credibility.
Recommended for: those interested in the historical and/or economic aspects of the Great Depression. The diary might also provide personal finance insight by analogy.
Not Recommended for: those who want expert analysis or a rear-view-mirror impressions of the Great Depression. Although there is a little bit of modern commentary from the editors, the book is mainly a diary.
Faith-finances.com Website Categories Covered: Personal Finance, Investing, Lifestyles
Reading Level: Basic … Intermediate to Advanced … Scholarly.
Interesting Concept: How the public would get excited about various government economic and social interventions, but then quickly get disillusioned when the results weren’t as hoped. Not much has changed in that regard.
Great Quotes: p.119 “A great deal of rotten-ness in high finance has been discovered. For the present at least the lawyers as a group are not in the limelight. The bankers and financiers hold the limelight as the evil genius.” P.122 “Again and again during this depression it is driven home to me that opportunity is a stern goddess who passes up those who are unprepared with liquid capital.” P.132 “Personally I am more concerned that ever that prosperity will return only when we stop tampering with the dollar. Business is afraid of all this uncertainty.” P.152 “The people have gotten used to looking to the government for help and the average man does not stop to consider where the money is coming from or how it is to be paid back.” P.194 “Cash is king in every depression. A small investment in real estate or stocks or bonds in 1932 would be worth a fortune today.”
Spiritual Content: None.
Book Citation: Roth, Benjamin, James Ledbetter, Mike Chamberlain, and Daniel B. Roth. The Great Depression: A diary. New York: PublicAffairs, 2025. The Faith and Finances Ministry is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program where it earns fees when readers purchase this product through the Amazon.com link provided.
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