Bill Bryson’s One Summer is set in America in 1927 a year of, as he puts it, reckless optimism and delirious energy. A year which saw the birth of talking movies, the peak of Al Capone’s reign, Banker’s ill conceived decisions which led to the great depression and the launch of the Model A Ford.
This book is treasure chest of information as Bryson records this ‘anything goes in USA’ year in his easy to read style. A year ruled over by a ‘do nothing’ President Calvin Coolidge who seldom worked more than four hours a day and spent three month long holidays in his Black Hills Dakota ranch.
The national hero was Charles Lindbergh who had become the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from America. His single engine plane was devoid of navigation instruments and had no forward vision. To see where he was going Lindbergh had to fly it sideways crab like and look out of the side window.
Al Capone was at his height of power creating mayhem seemingly untouchable by law officers. Little could he suspect that, Mabel Walker, a little known Federal prosecutor, was hatching a clever plan which was to prove his downfall. Likewise four banking executives could not have dreamed that the secret meeting to plan to make even more money would be the catalyst for the great depression.
Henry Ford launched his Model A car after a months long gap of no Ford production as the factories retooled for the new model. General Motors and Chrysler gleefully filled the gap with General Motors’ cars becoming the market leaders. A position Ford was never to regain.
Bizarre, even by 1927 standards , was the fame of Robert G Elliott as America’s top executioner. Elliott had ‘mastered the difficult task of administering death by execution’. The death sentence was frequently given and Elliott was a busy man.
It was also the year of the famous sportsmen too with fans flocking to see the likes of baseball star Babe Ruth or boxer Jack Dempsey. 150,000 fans crowded into to watch Jack Dempsey fight Gene Tunney. Fans got good value with boxing bouts of up to twenty six rounds.
All these and many more are fully covered in this 550 page book. An interesting, informative read.
Mike Beckett
