Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, & the Great Depression

A remarkably clear and good read for a more academic than popular history. I learned an enormous amount about a time as fascinating for its differences to the present as its similarities.

This scholarly and readable history has much relevance as we face the resurgence of fascism in America. It recreates the power of the movement in prewar America and the power of great political leader in reducing its seductive pull.

Praise has been heaped on Alan Brinkley's book in the past, and after reading it, I fully concur with the accolades that past reviewers have granted to this book.Brinkley sets the tone for his book from the title - "Voices of Protest". He focuses the book on the two main characters (and I do mean characters) present in the subtitle - Huey P. Long and Father Charles E. Couglin.Brinkley treats us to a brief biographical sketch of each of these flamboyant and ebulent personalities. Long in his silk pajamas receiving a German envoy, and Coughlin stripping down from his clerical garb to a sweat soaked politician are just a couple of the many images that grab the reader during the progression of this discourse.After explaining who these men were, he goes into their social & political movements - a fascinating tale of Long's "Share Our Wealth" plan, and an equally rich telling of Coughlin's "Golden Hour of the Little Flower". Brinkley has chosen the title Voices of Protest because both of these movements became major political dissident movements in Depression-era America.Brinkley does a fantastic job of explaining, in historiographic terms, why these movements gathered such steam and were able to become massive social movements rather than just political fodder. In addition to detailing these two major oppositional voices to FDR's new deal, Brinkley also gives us a chapter on other movements that were equally critical of the New Deal, but not nearly as widespread.I found it especially interesting how Brinkley explained that Long was the primary reason why both of these movements flourished - after his assassination in 1935, both movements really seemed to fall apart.I enjoyed this book tremendously - it gives new insight into the way that political dissonance took hold in the 1930's and what a big part of American society these two political movements became.

I felt the author was too forgiving--too positive--about these demagogues.

A fine overview of two largely forgotten but decidedly relevant political demagogues from the 1930s. If you want to get some insight on what drives the politics of populism, this is a good place to begin. If the writing were a bit more refined, I would give it five stars.

On Long and Coughlin this is an essential book.

Gave As Gift

Received promptly. Exactly what I was looking for.

A very well written book. It is superbly researched. Relevant to anyone with a deed interest in American history and politics.