David Kyvig Daily Life In The United States Summary

In Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1939: Decades of Promise and Pain, author David E. Kyvig, creates historical account of the Great Depression, and the events leading up to it. Kyvig’s goal in writing this book was to show how Americans had to change their daily life in order to cope with the changing times. Kyvig utilizes historical evidence and inferences from these events and developments to strengthen his point. The book is organized chronologically, recounting events and their effects on American culture. Each chapter of the book tackles a various point in American history between 1920 and1939 and events are used to comment on American life at the time. While Kyvig does not exactly have a “thesis” per se, his main point is to examine

Kyvig is a Presidential Research Professor and Professor of History at Northern Illinois University (Kyvig, 272). His purpose in writing the book, as Kyvig states in his preface, was to, “… to examine what daily life was like for ordinary people in the 1920s and 1930s. It acknowledges that these people were not all alike and that their experiences varied considerably. It recognizes that distinctions in location, occupation, economic circumstance, race, ethnicity, gender, age, religious view, and cultural values differentiated their lives. Above all, its author is sensitive to the fact that in this space it is only possible to scratch the surface of a topic that should be explored in greater depth and detail” (Kyvig, x). Kyvig goes on to state that, “This book is offered in the hope that it will inspire some readers to further improve their historical understanding by investigating topics addressed and others that could have been but were not included” (Kyvig, x). Kyvig takes about as neutral of a stance as possible. When discussing the KKK, Kyvig takes neither a caustic nor warm tone, but simply an unbiased account of the actions they performed and the reactions on those they affected. By taking this stance, he allows the reader to draw their own conclusions based on the information presented. Kyvig, being a Professor of History at Northern Illinois University, is able to establish ethos with the reader, confirming the facts of which he presents are credible and