Rating: 
Summary: One of my all time favorites
Review: I read this book about five years ago and I am excited that volume two is finally out. I wanted to write a review because this book was so important to my own growth and education. Cook's biography of Eleanor Roosevelt got me interested in biographies, American History and politics. In many of the reviews people say how the book it novel like. This is true, because Eleanor's life was so story like in many ways. Also Eleanor is so inspirational to any woman or girl who has ever felt shy or inadequate, or who has been dumped on by her husband or relatives. I really recommend this book and I cannot wait until I can get ahold of the second volume. Thank you Blanche Cook for making such an inspirational book available to us readers.
Rating:
Summary: Great Work!
Review: I read this book as well as "On Women and Revolution" and Women and support networks and loved all of them. Blanche Wiesen Cook has a most amzing talent with words.
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Summary: Angry about neglected history
Review: I thought I was a decent student of American history; well, I am, sort of. Of MALE American history.Not once in all my years of school have I ever had a history class that focused on the great women leaders in our nation's history--including Eleanor Roosevelt. It is a travesty that needs to be rectified ... and it can be by reading this biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. What a woman! Was she perfect? No. Did she always do the right thing? Nope. Was she always presented in the best possible light? Nada. Instead, what Blanche Cook did was present a portrait of a very real Eleanor Roosevelt--warts and all. I never once gave consideration to reading about Eleanor--until I read a NEW YORK TIMES' review of the second volume of the biography. It compelled me to purchase the first; I will now read the second. I would encourage any and all women to do the same simply because what we have been able to accomplish in today's world can be directly connected to Eleanor Roosevelt, her contemporaries, and her mentors. We owe it to her legacy; we also owe it to the children of today's schools to learn about her in our history classes. These women deserve mention as much--if not more--than the heroes of the Revolutionary War, the great presidents, the fighters of the Civil War, the World Wars, etc., etc.
Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating and disappointing bio of a great heroine
Review: If you want to understand Eleanor Roosevelt and her times, read Doris Kearns Goodwin's "No Ordinary Time: Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt -- The Home Front During World War II." Her historical perspective is broader, her prose ten times better, and her psychological analysis less one-sided and narrow. This book is good if you want to know every last little detail about Eleanor's life -- it seems that Cook included every fact that could possibly be documented (and many with questionable or absent documentation - pages of assertions without endnotes to back them up!) Her prose is disorganized and often reads as if she went from one index card to the next without regard for transitions. (In one section she refers to the high regard on of FDR's bosses had for him, and in the very next sentence she says that it was Eleanor who bridged the tension between the two men. What tension was that? We don't find out for many more pages.) I agree with many reviewers that her feminist slant colors her interpretation unduly -- and I'm a strong feminist myself. What a shame - Eleanor deserved better.
Rating:
Summary: Frustrating and disappointing bio of a great heroine
Review: If you want to understand Eleanor Roosevelt and her times, read Doris Kearns Goodwin's "No Ordinary Time: Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt -- The Home Front During World War II." Her historical perspective is broader, her prose ten times better, and her psychological analysis less one-sided and narrow. This book is good if you want to know every last little detail about Eleanor's life -- it seems that Cook included every fact that could possibly be documented (and many with questionable or absent documentation - pages of assertions without endnotes to back them up!) Her prose is disorganized and often reads as if she went from one index card to the next without regard for transitions. (In one section she refers to the high regard on of FDR's bosses had for him, and in the very next sentence she says that it was Eleanor who bridged the tension between the two men. What tension was that? We don't find out for many more pages.) I agree with many reviewers that her feminist slant colors her interpretation unduly -- and I'm a strong feminist myself. What a shame - Eleanor deserved better.
Rating: 
Summary: Explores New Ground on a Famous Woman
Review: Most books that I have read on Eleanor Roosevelt stress that no matter how revolutionary she might have seemed, she lived her life within certain bounds for her time. Yet this book demonstrates that the historical character and the real woman are very different. The author portrays Eleanor as a woman who did not find herself until her mid-thirties and then was determined to live as she wanted. Her marriage to Franklin was not fulfilling and she needed more. She found this with various life long friends who shared her passion for politics and social change. The author does an excellent job staying on track, and keeping Eleanor in the forefront. This is definitely not a biography of Franklin! I found the information on the early life of Eleanor to be especially interesting, in how so many of the obstacles that she faced as a youth played a large role in how she dealt with others the rest of her life. Her childhood is hearbreaking and I can't help but think that even for all her wealth and priviledge, how sad her childhood was. She seemed to search all her life to find a home and finally decided to create her own with her friends, not her family. Even though she had five children, their lives were controlled by her mother-in-law, Sara Delano Roosevelt. Rather than become depressed at the various obstacles presented by her life, she rose above them and ultimately became a very fulfilled and happy person.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books Eleanor Roosevelt that I have read!
Review: This bio read like a novel with many insites in the life of Eleanor Roosevelt. I can't wait until the second volume comes out. I will be the first one in line to buy it. If you enjoy reading about the country during this time, you will enjoy this book.
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Summary: Eye opening view of historical, political and cultural icon.
Review: This volume, part one, of a planned two-part series views Eleanor Roosevelt as a human being rather than as a media event. Layers of historical embellishment are stripped away to reveal a sensitive and vulnerable person struggling with issues more readily identified with the denizens of America's grass roots. Mrs. Roosevelt is shown to have a keen intellect that surpasses that of her husband and which garners respect amongst his most sophisticated supporters and inner circle members. Her relationships with men and women, her sexuality, and her emotional strengths and stresses are explored, evaluated and respected. The prose is engaging and moves along much in the manner of far less scholarly works. This is a book for more than just those readers interested in our historical past. It should easily capture the attention of anyone seeking to know more about a thoroughly authentic American human experience
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