No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

People often say they don't like to read history because it's so dry. They apparently have not read history the way Goodwin writes it. The subtitles set the order of importance here: first come the Roosevelts--the ever cool, ever charming Franklin, and his conscience, Eleanor--set against the background of World War II as it was waged on the home front. By the time we finish this more than 800-page study, we feel as if we have been present during the events described, as if we have known the players. And what a group of players they were. Goodwin uses the setting of the home front quite literally, focusing on the White House itself, which was a veritable boardinghouse, home to an odd assortment of ducks including the president's sickly, irreplaceable associate Harry Hopkins; Hopkins' young daughter, Missy LeHand, FDR's secretary and confidant, who was desperately in love with her boss; and Lorena Hickok, a onetime journalist who was desperately in love with Eleanor--and those were just the regular roomers. The story could turn on that plot alone, but there was also a war going on, and Goodwin is as capable of deciphering world events as she is people. Though she never shies away from discussing battle strategy when appropriate, she always maintains her focus on how the war affected life over here. In this context, the evolution of social problems in the U.S.--especially the treatment of minorities and women (shepherded by their patron saint, Eleanor)--becomes a major theme in the book. In fact, readers gain a real understanding of the genesis of many of our current social ills. But always, Goodwin makes us see the Big Picture in terms of individual lives. Emerson once said, "There is no history, only biography." This book makes that quote a living, breathing reality. ~--Ilene Cooper

No previous biography of a president has given so complete a picture of how private lives and political questions intersect uniquely for the residents of the White House. Nor has any history of WWII so fully documented the domestic life of the nation during the international crisis. Narrating the events of the war from the vantage point of the White House, Goodwin (Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream) reveals a political drama fought in Congress, within the cabinet, in the press and in the living quarters of the executive mansion. As Goodwin makes richly evident, Eleanor was a homefront counterpart to Winston Churchill, a partner and provocateur whose relationship with FDR was rarely smooth and often frankly confrontational. Previous works on the Roosevelts have suggested that, as an adviser, Eleanor was her husband's political and social conscience; Goodwin shows in stunning detail that even more, she was his astute political partner, lobbyist and goad. The author's portrait offers a fresh perspective on WWII and, more than coincidentally during the debate over the proper role of Hillary Rodham Clinton, depicts how a savvy, relentlessly involved First Lady incalculably enriched and shaped the political and social agendas of the nation. Photos. History Book Club split main selection; BOMC alternate; author tour. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Goodwin (The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, LJ 2/15/87) here focuses upon the wartime White House, "a small, intimate hotel" frequented by Churchill, Harry Hopkins, Lorena Hickock, Missy LeHand, and other guests of the state and of the Roosevelts. Goodwin's eye for life's details catches Franklin's ongoing quarrel with the kitchen, the feel of the map room, Eleanor's unease at the cocktail hour, FDR's delight in this ritual, and many other scenes. Her portraits of ER and FDR are highly sympathetic, showing them heroically-but by no means flawlessly-leading an unwilling nation into the wartime effort that helped defeat the Axis and changed America unimaginably. Goodwin's narrative, based upon interviews and other primary research and deeply informed by the scholarship of others, will keep company with the best works in the vast Roosevelt canon and will absorb and delight a wide readership. For all libraries.-Robert F. Nardini, North Chichester, N.H. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A superb dual portrait of the 32nd President and his First Lady, whose extraordinary partnership steered the nation through the perilous WW II years. In the period covered by this biography, 1940 through Franklin's death in 1949, FDR was elected to unprecedented third and fourth terms and nudged the country away from isolationism into war. It is by now a given that Eleanor was not only an indispensable adviser to this ebullient, masterful statesman, but a political force in her own right. More than most recent historians, however, Goodwin (The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, 1987) is uncommonly sensitive to their complex relationship's shifting undercurrents, which ranged from deep mutual respect to lingering alienation caused by FDR's infidelity. One element creating tension was tactical politics: FDR, seeing increased arms production as crucial to the war effort, sought to close the divide between businessmen and his administration, while Eleanor prodded him not to forget about labor, civil rights, and Jewish refugees. As grateful as he was to her for acting as his political eyes and ears, Franklin also could react testily to her unremitting lobbying at times when he desperately needed relief from the strains of running the war effort. Equally fascinating here are the often semi-permanent White House guests who filled the couple's ``untended needs'': their daughter and four sons; FDR alter ego Harry Hopkins, shaking off grave illness to go on critical diplomatic missions; Franklin's secretary Missy LeHand, prevented by a stroke from serving the man she loved; exiled Princess Martha of Norway, who gave Franklin the unqualified affection of which Eleanor was incapable; two of Eleanor's confidantes, future biographer Joe Lash and the lesbian ex-journalist Lorena Hickok; and Winston Churchill. A moving drama of patchwork intimacy in the White House, played out against the sweeping tableau of the nation rallying behind a great crusade. (32 pages of b&w photos, not seen) (Book- of-the-Month Club main selection; History Book Club main selection; author tour)

Goodwin, author of The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys (LJ 2/15/87) and a political analyst on shows like Nightline, Today, and CBS Morning News, considers the Roosevelts' very own homefront during World War II. Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information.

Goodwin (The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, LJ 2/15/87) here focuses upon the wartime White House, "a small, intimate hotel" frequented by Churchill, Harry Hopkins, Lorena Hickock, Missy LeHand, and other guests of the state and of the Roosevelts. Goodwin's eye for life's details catches Franklin's ongoing quarrel with the kitchen, the feel of the map room, Eleanor's unease at the cocktail hour, FDR's delight in this ritual, and many other scenes. Her portraits of ER and FDR are highly sympathetic, showing them heroically-but by no means flawlessly-leading an unwilling nation into the wartime effort that helped defeat the Axis and changed America unimaginably. Goodwin's narrative, based upon interviews and other primary research and deeply informed by the scholarship of others, will keep company with the best works in the vast Roosevelt canon and will absorb and delight a wide readership. For all libraries.-Robert F. Nardini, North Chichester, N.H. Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information.

Goodwin's account of the Roosevelt presidency during WWII highlights America's changing domestic front. (Oct.) Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information.

No previous biography of a president has given so complete a picture of how private lives and political questions intersect uniquely for the residents of the White House. Nor has any history of WWII so fully documented the domestic life of the nation during the international crisis. Narrating the events of the war from the vantage point of the White House, Goodwin (Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream) reveals a political drama fought in Congress, within the cabinet, in the press and in the living quarters of the executive mansion. As Goodwin makes richly evident, Eleanor was a homefront counterpart to Winston Churchill, a partner and provocateur whose relationship with FDR was rarely smooth and often frankly confrontational. Previous works on the Roosevelts have suggested that, as an adviser, Eleanor was her husband's political and social conscience; Goodwin shows in stunning detail that even more, she was his astute political partner, lobbyist and goad. The author's portrait offers a fresh perspective on WWII and, more than coincidentally during the debate over the proper role of Hillary Rodham Clinton, depicts how a savvy, relentlessly involved First Lady incalculably enriched and shaped the political and social agendas of the nation. Photos. History Book Club split main selection; BOMC alternate; author tour. (Sept.) Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information.