Book Description

In this extraordinary biography, Roosevelt's life is set against the backround and events of almost half a century to show how the man and his career were shaped by the world in which he lived. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Not enough on FDR
Davis has completed five books in his intended definitive biography of Franklin Roosevelt. This book is superbly researched and factual, but it isn't as interesting as other books on FDR by Ward or Freidel. Davis bogs down in trivial and irritating detail, which is peculiar, since the early Hyde Park years are among the most engrossing of Roosevelt's life. Davis is best when he examines FDR's relationship with his mother and father, but he spend *way* too much time examining the boring rich-pony set of Duchess County.

Davis is weaker on forging memorable portraits of the intimate personal relationships in FDR's life. besides his parents. He doesn't really explore the loneliness Roosevelt felt at Groton and Harvard. There is a singular lack of understanding of Eleanor Roosevelt in this volume, nor is there much said about Roosevelt's children, his secretary Missy LeHand or other pivotal members of the FDR milieu. Davis does explore in interesting depth the effect of Howe's relationship with FDR.

Roosevelt was a mercurial and difficult to understand character. His charismatic public facade masked some inner demons and foibles, which Davis painstakingly illuminates. This is an interesting, though ultimately, flawed effort.

Davis lacks focus
Let me start by saying that Kenneth S. Davis is a naturally talented writer and historian and this biography is very informative and entertaining. However it is simply too bloated, it does not just want to be a biography of FDR but a history of the aristocratic Hudson River society, Groton, Harvard, Tammany Hall and the Woodrow Wilson administration. I am a firm believer in a model of biography that puts the subject in their historical context, since no person can be understood without looking at the kind of envirnoment that formed their actions.
However Davis simply takes this too far by focusing on these particular aspects of the biography without really any explanation of why this is essential to understanding the character of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Davis is also to fixated on Eleanor and parts of the biography ignore his role in their relationship and focus on her life.
Overall this is a well written, compelling biography but it is simply too long and there are parts where the man himself gets lost in the world surrounding him. The fact that this volume is 853 pages and only gets as far as his election as the governor of New York shows how overblown the book is. Overall more editing was required to make this volume flow better and to give us a sense of Rooselvelt himself, this is a shame since this biography has so much more going for it.

How it all began...
This book was awarded a well-deserved Parkman for the quality of its scholarship. This is the best book on the early years of FDR. It follows his childhood and explores the relationships with the key people in his life: the formidable Sara Delano Roosevelt, his marriage to Eleanor, and his political education from Louis Howe.

This book also has a great deal to say about polio and how FDR and each of these people responded. This is not "Sunrise at Campabello, although it is clear that polio did make Roosevelt into the person who was able to become the greatest president of the 20th century.

Huge biography that reads at the pace of a great novel.
I can't wait to read the other books in this serial biography. Davis rarely overtells or undertells details of FDR's early years. The book moves quickly, and leaves an insatiable desire to read the next installation - if you can find it. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Interesting
I could not put this book down! The author wrote a personal and honeststory which seemed believable. I recommend it to all.

An amazing tale of courage and strong will.
My family came to the U.S. from Austria in 1907.If we had stayed, the majority of us would have been killed.This book is the personal account of a young man from a well to do Jewish family in Vienna.When the Naziscame to Austria his family fled, and when he could no longer flee, hedecided to join a partisan group to combat the Nazis in Northern Italy. This book is honest and to the point.As a person who spent six years inthe Marines and has a degree in History, I found Burger's accounts to bevery real.His first-hand experience with resisting the Nazis is somethingeveryone should read so it never happens again.If the world had reactedto Hitler the way Burger did as a young man, WWII probably would have beenavoided.This book should be included as part of the curriculum of everyWWII History course.

Suprisingly honest perspective on human nature, good & evil
What struck me with this book was its honesty, thewarts-and-all view of a boy's attempt at dealing with a nightmare by design; his incredible survival instincts and the places they took him. This book stands as testimony to the reality that Jews did, in fact, stand up in the face of Adolf Hilter through whatever limited or even extraordinary means opportunty presented.You can't write fiction like this first-hand account, though people like Herman Wouk have tried with great market success. The author, for example, chances upon people like Louis Armstrong giving us milestones as a frame of reference, but with a sincerity the best historical fiction writer sorely lacks. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Sarasota Herald Tribune, published by Sarasota Herald-Tribune on November 4, 2001. The length of the article is 526 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Edith Roosevelt biography emerges from daughter's attic.(FLORIDA WEST)
Publication: Sarasota Herald Tribune (Newspaper)
Date: November 4, 2001
Publisher: Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Page: E5

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman are two men whose backgrounds were very dissimilar but whose achievements proved to be roughly comparable--both became President of the United States. It is, for example, ironic that the wealthy Roosevelt is best known for his social programs and that Truman, who came from modest circumstances in the Middle West, achieved his greatest success in foreign affairs. This study demonstrates, with some flair, the variety and the breadth of the American experience and provides, in part, a credible basis for the existence of "an American Dream." ... Read more

Book Description

The story of the relationship of Franklin Delano Roosevelt with Tammany Hall of New York has never been completely told. FDR's dealings with the New York machine have received piecemeal treatment in numerous monographs and histories that record his life. In addition, there is a scholarly bias against connecting prominent leaders in society to the mundane political clubs and organizations that keep the wheels of the party turning and get out the vote. Rather, the study of politics is dominated by a perspective that emphasizes the macrocosmic aspects of the phenomenon. Good government advocates, such as Roosevelt, are supposed to be above contact with local machines which are known to be corrupt. In truth, Roosevelt had a very intricate and profound connection to Tammany Hall that lasted over thirty years, whether he was in or out of office. The author tells the complete story of how FDR and Tammany Hall worked out a "modus vivendi". ... Read more

Book Description

This definitive account of F.D.R.'s bout with polio, originally published by Abt Books in 1982, offers a new insight into how Roosevelt's struggle with crippling disease gave him greater strength and understanding as a human being. As a rehabilitation psychologist, the author gained access to little-known medical records and quotes extensively from interviews with Roosevelt's doctors, surviving Harvard classmates, Margaret Suckley, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and several Warm Springs associates. Co-published with Abt Books. ... Read more