When Henry Roth published Call It Sleep, his first novel, in 1934, it was greeted with critical acclaim. But in that dark Depression year, books were hard to sell, and the novel quickly dropped out of sight, as did its twenty-eight-year-old author. Only with its paperback publication in 1964 did the novel receive the recognition it deserves. Call It Sleep was the first paperback ever to be reviewed on the front page of The New York Times Book Review,...

From the Depression to the New Deal, enormous forces were interested upon New York which permanently altered the city and the country. Two remarkable New Yorkers rose to prominence: May Fiorello La Guardia and master builder Robert Moses. This episode examines their careers in detail, as well as the immense public works that transformed the city in the '30s. Also explored are the demise of Mayor Jimmy Walker, the fate of Harlem during the Depression,...