Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s

“A perfectly grand piece of historical record and synthetic journalism.”
— Chicago Daily Tribune

From Frederick Lewis Allen, former editor-in-chief of Harpers magazine, comes a classic history of 1920s America, from the end of World War I to the stock market crash and the beginning of The Great Depression. Originally published in 1931, Only Yesterday has an exuberance and proximity to its subject—the Roaring Twenties in all its scandal and glory—that uniquely captures the feel of the era.

"A style that is verve itself." -- New York Times

"A perfectly grand piece of historical record and synthetic journalism."
-- Chicago Daily Tribune

From Frederick Lewis Allen, former editor-in-chief of Harper's magazine, comes a classic history of 1920s America, from the end of World War I to the stock market crash and the beginning of The Great Depression. Originally published in 1931, Only Yesterday has an exuberance and proximity to its subject--the Roaring Twenties in all its scandal and glory--that uniquely captures the feel of the era.

Only Yesterday tells the story of the Roaring Twenties -- the decade that really began with the Armistice in November 1918 and ended in economic catastrophe and the Great Depression in 1929. Written in 1931, author Frederick Lewis Allen captures the decade in all its scandalous glory: Prohibition and the rise of speakeasies, flappers and the rise of hemlines, and prosperity and the rise of stock prices. Allen's lively narrative brings back a wealth of forgotten events, fashions, and absurdities, uniquely capturing the feel of a long-forgotten era.

Frederick Lewis Allen (1890 - 1954) was born in Boston and graduated from Harvard in 1912. He served on the editorial staffs of the Atlantic Monthly and Century magazines and was editor in chief of Harper's magazine from 1941 until his death.

"A perfectly grand piece of historical record and synthetic journalism." -- Chicago Daily Tribune

"A perfectly grand piece of historical record and synthetic journalism." -- Chicago Daily Tribune

From Frederick Lewis Allen, former editor-in-chief of Harper's magazine, comes a classic history of 1920s America, from the end of World War I to the stock market crash and the beginning of The Great Depression. Originally published in 1931, Only Yesterday has an exuberance and proximity to its subject--the Roaring Twenties in all its scandal and glory--that uniquely captures the feel of the era.

Only Yesterday deals with that delightful decade from the Armistice in November 1918 to the panic and depression of 1929-30. Here is the story of Woodrow Wilson's defeat, the Harding scandals, the Coolidge prosperity, the revolution in manners and morals, the bull market and its smash-up. Allen's lively narrative brings back an endless variety of half-forgotten events, fashions, crazes, and absurdities. Deftly written, with a humorous touch, Only Yesterday traces, beneath the excitements of day-to-day life in the 20s, those currents in national life and thought which are the essence of true history.