Hard Times

the long version

The stock Market crash of 1929 abruptly thrusts the nation into chaos, as unemployed people grow more desperate for a livelihood. As nearly ever sector of the economy collapses and dust storms rage in the West, only the most determined can make it. While desperation and despair wrack the nation, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal continues to inspire hope in some but arouses cynicism in others. Wealthy and handsome John Canfield refuses to disallow his patriotism in the face of disaster. He embarks on an important and clandestine mission for the President himself, resolving to help his country while he still has the power to. Gutsy reporter Shaylin McKay is one of the few women reporters in the business. As she risks her life as a war correspondent in Civil War torn Spain, she confronts the realities of war and the possibilities of human endurance. Del Murtaugh is a man with no particular occupation or destination. Displaced and penniless, he is driven from the dustbowl of Oklahoma to the dissipated lifestyle of Hollywood’s dreamers and schemers. This fourth volume of The American Chronicles painstakingly recreates the dramatic conflicts of the 1930’s, evoking both the hard times and the joyful ones.