Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 2: The Defining Years, 1933-1938 - Paperback

by Blanche Wiesen Cook (Author)

The central volume in the definitive biography of America's most important First Lady. "Engrossing" (Boston Globe).

The captivating second volume of this Eleanor Roosevelt biography covers tumultuous era of the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the gathering storms of World War II, the years of the Roosevelts' greatest challenges and finest achievements. In her remarkably engaging narrative, Cook gives us the complete Eleanor Roosevelt--an adventurous, romantic woman, a devoted wife and mother, and a visionary policymaker and social activist who often took unpopular stands, counter to her husband's policies, especially on issues such as racial justice and women's rights. A biography of scholarship and daring, it is a book for all readers of American history.

Back Jacket

THE BIOGRAPHY OF AMERICA'S MOST COMPELLING, CHARISMATIC, AND VISIONARY FIRST LADY

Feminists, historians, politicians, and critics everywhere have praised Blanche Wiesen Cook's Eleanor Roosevelt as the definitive portrait of the towering female figure of the twentieth century. In her long-awaited second volume, Cook delves into the monumental era of the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the gathering storms of World War II -- the years of the Roosevelts' greatest challenges and achievements. Cook gives us the complete Eleanor Roosevelt -- a visionary policy-maker and social activist, a loyal wife, a devoted mother, and a woman who courted romance and adventure. She wrote, she published, she traveled, she lobbied, she joined grassroots organizations and radical communities with a zeal that sparked controversy everywhere.

Intimate, sympathetic, and acute, this is an unparalleled portrait of a woman whose life was filled with passionate commitment and who struggled for personal fulfillment. It is a biography of vibrant scholarship and daring, a book for all readers of American history and politics, and, finally, a book for everyone who cares about a decent future for all people.

Author Biography

Blanche Wiesen Cook is Distinguished Professor of History at John Jay College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She is the author of Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume One: 1884-1933 and Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume Three: 193801962, Crystal Eastman on Women and Revolution and The Declassified Eisenhower, and is a former vice-president for research at the American Historical Association.