Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom 1940-1945

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Companion: War Administration
Review: This is Mr. Burns' companion volume to his Lion and the Fox (check that out). This focuses on FDR's WWII War Administration: policies, attitudes, hopes and worldly goals.

FDR's dedication to the well-being of the United States in WWII is evidenced by the fact that to start with, he didn't want a third term in office come 1940. Indeed, such aspirations were frowned upon in the political community. It did not stop him; as he saw it, it was his duty and obligation to the American people to keep familiar leadership in time of international turmoil. Other obstacles: struggles to arm allies, constant planning and meeting with allied leaders, and gradual, failing health. Burns also shows FDR's political savvy, using the utilization for war to the nation's advantage. Many unemployed workers were put back to work, which helped shift American industry into an overdrive that didn't stop for decades. Vision: as a disciple of Woodrow Wilson, he had a vision of a United Nations. One that he did not live to see.

For anyone reading about FDR, or World War II, this companion volume on his war administration is a must for anyone's collection, as it has become in mine.

Rating:
Summary: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Simply Extraordinary
Review: This scholarly, yet elegant, book won the Pulitzer Prize for history, National Book Award, and Bancroft Prize for history. This is widely considered to be one of the finest biographies ever written and is the definitive biography of Roosevelt during the war years. As the review states on the back of the book, it combines rigorous scholarship while being enjoyable to read.

General readers interested in Franklin Roosevelt might be better off reading Black's "Champion of Freedom" or Friedel's "Rendezvous with Destiny." However, World War II enthusiasts and Roosevelt scholars consider this book essential.

Rating:
Summary: Pulitzer Prize Winner. Superb Biography by Great Biographer
Review: This scholarly, yet elegant, book won the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and Bancroft Prize. "Soldier of Freedom" is the definitive biography of Roosevelt during the war years. As the review states on the back of the book, it combines rigorous scholarship while being enjoyable to read. I really can't add more other than to say it's a great biography of a great president during one of the most important periods in American history.

James MacGregor Burns is widely considered to be one of the greatest biographers. He has written several excellent books about leadership, George Washington and others, and his work is highly authoritative and unbiased. (For example, he said in newspaper articles that Ronald Reagan was "a great or near-great president" because, like Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt, Reagan was a "transforming" president).

You may want to first read the award-winning "The Lion and the Fox," which is the first volume of this two volume biography. However, World War II enthusiasts consider "Soldier of Freedom" an excellent book by itself. This is "must reading" for scholars of the era.

General readers interested in Franklin Roosevelt can also choose from many one-volume biographies by other authors, such as Black's "Champion of Freedom," "Leuchtenburg's "Franklin D. Roosevelt," Friedel's "Rendezvous with Destiny," or Jenkins' brief "Franklin Delano Roosevelt."