"From the years 1890 through 1910, Charles Van Schaick, the town photographer of a small Wisconsin community, took over 30,000 photographs. The negatives were left after his death, and by this accident of history, an extraordinary picture of a small town under the impact of the Great Depression has proved possible. It was by chance that this book is about this town. It was extraordinary good luck that Van Shaick's 30,000 glass negatives were found and that 3,000 of them were selected by Paul Vanderbilt, of the Wisconsin State Historical Society. It is from these 3,000 photographs that Michael Lesy drew the inspiration for this book. Using images and words from the local archives, Michael Lesy has fashioned an exciting new approach to history, a book that shows us the other side of the American past, a haunting and brilliant perception, reminiscent in some ways of the experiments of the early surrealist film makers, of the unknown aspects of our life that psycho-historians are only beginning to explore." -- publisher's statement. Includes a preface by Warren Susman and an introduction by Lesy, as well as a bibliography. Profusely illustrated in black-and-white.