Bubble in the Sun by Christopher Knowlton

7 out of 10

Following World War I, Florida turned into America's destination riviera.  The new Panama Canal brought a lot of global shipping into the Caribbean.  New roads and rails brought northerners down to vacation or live.  Bootleg alcohol and lax Prohibition enforcement turned the whole state into a party.  Celebrities mingled at resorts.  Developers became wildly rich.  Crooks (Capone, Ponzi, et al.) lived large.  But, ultimately, inflated property prices came crashing down.  Average investors and real estate kings watched their wealth disappear.

Knowlton makes a case that The Sunshine State's real estate crash had a more significant impact than the stock market crash of 1929 on the severity of The Great Depression.