Franklin D. Roosevelt

June 15, 2017

Author of a No. 1 New York Times best-selling biography of John F. Kennedy, an Unfinished Life, Dallek is also a Bancroft Prize winner for Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945. Here he offers a one-volume life of Roosevelt that explores basic questions: How did a man of privilege become a champion of those less fortunate? And how did he manage to restructure our foreign policy and our social and economic institutions having not been inclined to big thinking previously? A major title.

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September 4, 2017
Dallek (Camelot’s Court), an acclaimed biographer of earlier American presidents, covers nearly every aspect of F.D.R.’s life in a characteristically adroit work that is balanced in coverage and prudent in assessment. While Dallek does not add in any major way to existing knowledge of F.D.R., his emphasis falls on the two great crises of F.D.R.’s presidency—the Depression and WWII—and highlights F.D.R.’s emergence as a skillful politician. Given the book’s paucity of attention to issues regarding women, people of color, the environment, and civil and human rights, it’s not quite the timely work it is being framed as. When those issues arise it’s within chronological coverage of the New Deal and war. Readers may tire from the book’s relentless parade of declarative statements, though few will challenge Dallek’s characterization of Roosevelt as “an instinctively brilliant politician” and all will benefit from Dallek’s principal addition to earlier works on F.D.R.: the convincing argument that as early as May 1943 F.D.R. was showing signs of the illness that would kill him. The result is a comprehensive retelling of a major American life that will rank among the standard biographies of its subject. Agent: John W. Wright, John Wright Literary.

October 1, 2017
This focused study of the four term-winning president emphasizes his instinctive feel for the public mood.Having previously written extensively about John F. Kennedy (Camelot's Court and An Unfinished Life), among other presidents and world leaders (Nixon and Kissinger, The Lost Peace, Lone Star Rising, etc.), Dallek is a seasoned presidential historian and biographer. Here, he writes with authority about Franklin Roosevelt's political life and mission to create a "new social order" during a time of "enduring national transformation." Throughout his remarkable political career, Roosevelt managed to steer the country as "one organic entity, [reaffirming] that no interest, no class, no section, is either separate or supreme above the interests of all"--views he expressed in an interview before his first presidential win in 1932. This was especially surprising given his own patrician background (also that of his wife and cousin, Eleanor) and the general expectation of dictatorial leadership during the Depression crisis. Dallek examines several formative factors that contributed greatly to Roosevelt's ability to successfully tap the public sentiment and address significant issues--e.g., his three years of practicing law, which helped bring him "out from under the shelter" of his hereditary social circle of "Hyde Park, Campobello, Cambridge, and 65th Street"; his formidably kind wife, who was truly alarmed by the living conditions of the poor and disenfranchised where she toured during the Depression, operating as his eyes and ears; and, of course, being stricken by polio and his trips to Warm Springs, Georgia, where he mingled with the similarly afflicted and marginalized. The author also effectively shows how Roosevelt was an astute political animal who sometimes made questionable decisions for political expedience, such as failing to push for an anti-lynching law for fear of losing white Southern support, incarcerating Japanese-Americans during World War II, and fumbling over saving Jews from persecution by Nazi Germany.A lively one-volume treatment well-suited to libraries and schools.

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October 1, 2017

Presidential historian Dallek follows up his well-received An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 with his third and most comprehensive work on Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) to date. After briefly covering Roosevelt's college years and early political career, the book chronologically recounts the politician's greatest challenges, including trying presidential elections and the years leading up to and during World War II. Dallek's familiarity with his subject and deep understanding of American history and context shines in his clear and engaging prose. The author keeps his focus almost entirely on Roosevelt's political life. For example, a chapter on the leader's struggles with polio is also cast in a political light. There is less information on his life with wife Eleanor and his extended family. Although lengthy, the narrative manages to move quickly through a dense subject; readers will gain a solid sense of Roosevelt's political mind and an inspiring appreciation of his mighty character. VERDICT This highly recommended, expertly crafted book will please a variety of readers, especially those interested in biographies as well as presidential, military, and American history.--Benjamin Brudner, Curry Coll. Lib., Milton, MA

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.