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Burns's Pulitzer Prize and National Book Awardwinning history of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's final yearsThe second entry in James Macgregor Burns's definitive two-volume biography of Roosevelt begins with the president's precedent-breaking third term election in 1940, just as Americans were beginning to face the likelihood of war. Here, Burns examines Roosevelt's skillful wartime leadership as well as his vision for post-war peace. Hailed by William Shirer as ';the definitive book on show more Roosevelt in the war years,' and by bestselling author Barbara Tuchman as ';engrossing, informative, endlessly readable,' The Soldier of Freedom is a moving profile of a leader gifted with rare political talent in an era of extraordinary challenges, sacrifices, heroism, and hardship. show lessTags
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4163 Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom, by James MacGregor Burns (read 21 May 2006) (Pulitzer History prize in 1971)(National Book Award for history and biography in 1971) Reading this volume was an amazing experience for me because it covered the years 1940 to 1945, all of which was a time of acute awareness for me, especially as it pertained to FDR. So the events were very familiar, even though there were things that I did not know (though not much, it seemed). Burns is not overly friendly to FDR, but on balance he is favorable to much of what he did. The final chapter, as in all great biographies, was superb and wrenching. Reading these volumes was a stupendous experience for me, eminently worthwhile, and I should have read them 35 show more years ago. show less
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James MacGregor Burns was born in Melrose, Massachusetts on August 3, 1918. After graduating from Williams College, he went to Washington and worked as a congressional aide. During World War II, he served as an Army combat historian in the Pacific and received a Bronze Star. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He did postdoctoral work at show more the London School of Economics. He taught at Williams College. His first book, Congress on Trial: The Legislative Process and the Administrative State, was published in 1949. After his second book, Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox, he ran for Congress in 1958 and lost. During the campaign he became acquainted with John F. Kennedy and received unrestricted access to Kennedy, his staff and his records. This resulted in the book John Kennedy: A Political Profile. His other works included The Deadlock of Democracy, The Power to Lead: The Crisis of the American Presidency, and Fire and Light: How the Enlightenment Transformed Our World. Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom won the Pulitzer Prize, the Parkman Prize, and the National Book Award. The first volume of The American Experiment also received a Pulitzer Prize. He died on July 15, 2014 at the age of 95. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom, 1940-1945
- Original publication date
- 1970
- People/Characters
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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- Members
- 571
- Popularity
- 51,635
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.16)
- Languages
- Chinese, English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 16
