Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920s and How It Brought on the Great Depression

The 1920s in Florida was a time of incredible excess, immense wealth, and precipitous collapse, as author Christopher Knowlton, former Fortune writer and author of Cattle Kingdom, now explores in-depth. This decade witnessed the largest human migration in American history, far exceeding the settlement of the West, as millions flocked to the grand hotels and new cities rapidly rising from the teeming wetlands. The boom spawned a new subdivision civilization and the most egregious large-scale assault on the environment in the name of "progress."

Nowhere was the glitz and froth of the Roaring Twenties more excessive than in Florida. It was a Vegas-like frontier, where gambling and drinking were condoned despite prohibition. Tycoons, crooks, and celebrities arrived en masse to promote or exploit this dazzling new American frontier in the sunshine. Yet, the import and deep impact of these historical events have never been thoroughly explored until now.

In Bubble in the Sun, Knowlton examines the grand artistic and entrepreneurial visions behind Coral Gables, Boca Raton, Miami Beach, and other storied sites, as well as the darker side of the frenzy. While giant fortunes were being made and lost and the nightlife raged more raucously than anywhere else, the pure beauty of the Everglades suffered wanton ruination, and the workers, mostly black, who built and maintained the boom, endured grievous abuses.

Knowlton breathes dynamic life into the forces that made and wrecked Florida during the decade: the real estate moguls Carl Fisher, George Merrick, and Addison Mizner, and the once-in-a-century hurricane whose aftermath triggered the stock market crash. This essential account is a revelatory—and riveting—history of an era that still affects our country today.

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