The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890s Review

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The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890s Review
After the Civil War and Reconstruction, America was witnessing revolutions in every field. Not only in industry were there innovations, but in politics, economy, and society as well. These changes, including the emergence of multi-millionaires like Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan, labor unions, and the fight for free silver, continued well into the final decade of the 19th century. The 1890's was a time of unrest in America with corrupt politicians, an agrarian downturn, and other problems. H.W. Brands tries to get a hold of this turbulent age in The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890's.
Brands' objective in this work is to illustrate the rich history of the "reckless decade," while at the same time drawing parallels to the modern day. His introduction serves as a reminder of this goal. In it, he compares the end of the 19th century to the end of the 20th century. Both periods felt the "brink of a new era... most pronounced in America's cities." The cities in both eras helped reshape the economy. Brands notes that the politics of both decades were entrenched in fear and weariness. Those of the 1890's feared the change of the lives of the farmers with industrialization, while those of the 1990's feared a "ubiquitous, iniquitous liberalism." These comparisons are offered in the introduction, but not given directly in the book.
Brands covers a startlingly broad selection of events in such a narrow timeframe of history. The competition between the business juggernauts, Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan is presented in almost a narrative form, making a mundane matter of economics interesting. Brands spends a chapter discusses the "other half" of society, in distinct contrast with the aforementioned business magnates. He alludes to the work of journalist, Jacob Riis, in how immigrants managed to get by in the slums of New York. Much of the chapter is taken directly from Riis' gloomy portrayal of the ramshackle apartments. Brands discusses in depth the Spanish-American War, Jim Crow laws and segregation, and the national frenzy over gold and silver. One of the more interesting parts of the book was a retelling of the Homestead Strike of 1892. Brands depicts the event as having "the atmosphere a circus. (The better educated of the Pinkertons might have thought of a Roman circus with themselves as Christians and the strikers as the lions.)" The scope of the book misses very little: educational reform may be the only theme untouched in The Reckless Decade.
The book is written in a very approachable style. Brands is, at times, captivating in his narration of events. Unfortunately, the reading is also slow at some points. The author should be applauded, however, for his extensive research, as the material is exhaustive. The Reckless Decade encapsulates ten years of history in a mere 350 pages.The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890s Overview

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