-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
The Year that Made the Decade Roar
by Eric Burns
"The Roaring Twenties" is the only decade in American history with a widely applied nickname, and our collective fascination with this era continues. But how did this surge of innovation and cultural milestones emerge out of the ashes of The Great War? No one has yet written a book about the decade's beginning.
Acclaimed author Eric Burns investigates the year of 1920, which was not only a crucial twelve-month period of its own, but one that foretold the future, foreshadowing the rest of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st, whether it was Sacco and Vanzetti or the stock market crash that brought this era to a close.
Burns sets the record straight about this most misunderstood and iconic of periods. Despite being the first full year of armistice, 1920 was not, in fact, a peaceful time - it contained the greatest act of terrorism in American history to date. And while 1920 is thought of as starting a prosperous era, for most people, life had never been more unaffordable. Meanwhile, African Americans were putting their stamp on culture and though people today imagine the frivolous image of the flapper dancing the night away, the truth was that a new kind of power had been bestowed on women, and it had nothing to do with the dance floor…
From prohibition to immigration, the birth of jazz, the rise of expatriate literature, and the original Ponzi scheme, 1920 was truly a year like no other.
"Starred Review. In this delightfully readable book, the author expertly shows how those affected by the Great War linked together, nourished each other and really did change the world." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. Burns makes it possible to recognize the century to come in this intimate study of a single year, and the result is downright fascinating." - Publishers Weekly
"Casual readers and beginning researchers interested in early 20th-century American history and culture will find this title worthwhile. Those interested in the 1920s might also want to consider Bill Bryson's One Summer: America, 1927." - Library Journal
"Burns delivers history with flair and vividness." - The Wall Street Journal
"A work of genuine historical research, colorful personality, intellectual sophistication, heft, and durable interest." - Vanity Fair
"Extremely readable. Burns's vigorous narrative is rich in genuinely engaging anecdote. He so clearly appreciates history's sweep." - The Los Angeles Times
This information about 1920 was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Eric Burns is a former correspondent for NBC News and the TODAY Show. For ten years he was the host of the top-rated "Fox News Watch," and he has won an Emmy for media criticism. He is the author of Infamous Scribblers, The Spirits of America, and The Smoke of the Gods, and the latter two were named "Best of the Best" by the American Library Association. Eric lives in Westport, Connecticut.
If you liked 1920, try these:
by Sophie Gilbert
Published 2026
From Atlantic critic and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sophie Gilbert, a blazing critique of early aughts pop culture.
by Timothy Egan
Published 2024
A historical thriller by the Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author that tells the riveting story of the Klan's rise to power in the 1920s, the cunning con man who drove that rise, and the woman who stopped them.
by Eman Abdelhadi
Published 2022
By the middle of the twenty-first century, war, famine, economic collapse, and climate catastrophe had toppled the world's governments.
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
