Introduction William Solomon; 1. Marxist literary debates in the 1930s Alan Wald; 2. Aesthetics and politics of the depression era Matthew Stratton; 3. Architects of history: politics and experimentalism in American writing of the 1930s Catherine Morley; 4. Radical politics and experimental poetics in the 1930s Ruth Jennison; 5. 'I plan to send you some pictures': documenting the 1930s in cold blood Paula Rabinowitz; 6. Songs of social significance: theatre of the depression era Ilka Saal; 7. Literature and labor Laura Hapke; 8. Transgression and redemption in the 1930s Thomas J. Ferraro; 9. The 'race radical thrust of ethnic proletarian literature in the 1930s Chris Vials; 10. African American historical writing in the depression Nathaniel Mills; 11. Popular fiction in the 1930s Jennifer Haytock and William Solomon; 12. Performance and politics in the 1930s William Solomon; 13. Remembering the 1930s in contemporary historical fiction Caren Irr.