This book, first in a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy, describes the conditions (economic, socio-political, etc.) that led to the Great Depression & the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Schlesinger takes a multi-disciplinary approach to his topic, examining this period period via the major actors who played a part in shaping it, as well as the emerging trends that such persons represented. As the "old order" succumbed to the turbulence & change that characterized the 20th Century, Schlesinger does a masterful job describing its decline.