5 Answers

• Reputation: 639 Q&A: 22 0 0 205 6 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 5 topics Books & Writing Book Recommendations General Book Discussion Other Books & Writing Book Club- A Visit from the Goon Squad Follow Following 2 David Wright

  3 0 Agreed: he is kind of a vast subject, and Smith's FDR is an excellent recent single volume treatment. If you wanted to get even more in depth (something commensurate with Edmund Morris's three volume set on Teddy Roosevelt), the definitive work is probably Arthur Schlesinger Jr's three volume classic Age of Roosevelt. Two other recent volumes that also deserve calling out are Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: the Home Front in World War II, and Conrad Black's Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom - I don't really think you'd go wrong with any of these: it is more a matter of how much depth you want to get into, ranging from Schlesinger's over 2,000 pages to Smith's 858. David Wright answered in Book Recommendations 9 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 6000 Q&A: 113 0 11 4226 721 3 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 6

  2 0 For straight biography the Schlesinger series can't be beat, but for a broader view, showing Roosevelt in context (at least up to WWII), I really liked Page Smith's "Redeeming the Time: A People's History of the Great Depression and the New Deal". It's the last volume of his eight-volume history of the US, written in 1991. He doesn't get mentioned much anymore, but he really had a way with social history and the lives of ordinary people. Fnarf answered in Book Recommendations 9 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 276 Q&A: 1 0 5 236 85 1 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  1 0 "Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Champion of Freedom" by Conrad Black. The Doctor answered in Book Recommendations 9 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 1345 Q&A: 14 1 26 527 77 14 Classifieds: 5 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  1 0 Great question. There are so many. The best will depend a bit on what period you are interested in (New Deal v WWII) or whether you are more interested in policy vs. personality and what writing style you prefer (novel vs. history book). BUT... the best overall biography that covers it all is probably. FDR by Jean Edward Smith infernactual answered in Book Recommendations 9 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 239 Q&A: 5 0 2 111 17 1 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  0 0 I have not yet read any FDR biographies but I found the two volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt Just fascinating. She lived a life that at times seems like Forest Gump's, involved in so many pivotal social movements. She influenced FDR's decision-making and policies quite dramatically at times. agness answered in Book Recommendations 9 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend: