The Great Depression, the worldwide economic collapse that began in 1929 and ended only well after the outbreak of World War II a decade later, remains a topic of widespread fascination.There are several reasons for such continuing interest.Among them is the fact that the experience was seared into the lives, memories, and outlooks of an entire generation, coloring its members’ views of their subsequent experiences. Another reason for the intense interest in the Depression is that it seemed to contradict the expectations of most Americans and their experiences of relative prosperity throughout most of the time since. Then there is the era’s defiance of the modern trend toward individualism and the identification of personal well-being with material consumption. Those who object to the modern rush toward ever greater selfishness and self-indulgence are drawn to the alternate visions of co-operation and rejection of consumerism evident in the Great Depression.