ASIN 0671652257
Peter Collier (Author)

UPC

The co-authors of The Kennedys and The Rockefellers reunite for an encompassing portrait of the dreams, triumphs, vanities, and achievements of the Roosevelt family, from Teddy to Eleanor and Franklin. 100,000 first printing. BOMC.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Roosevelt dynasty that gave the U.S. two presidents was divided into hostile factions, show Collier and Horowitz ( The Kennedys ). Theodore (TR), the Republican president from 1901 to 1909, led the Oyster Bay branch of this New York family, while his cousin Franklin (FDR), a four-term Democratic president (1933-1945), represented the Hyde Park Roosevelts. Relying heavily on quotes from earlier studies, the authors deliver an entertainingly gossipy but unbalanced history of the clan that focuses on TR, FDR and their wives and children. Bestowing a heroic man mantle on TR, they justify his controversial acquisition of Panama while portraying him as a caring family man. FDR, who overcame the crippling effects of polio, is credited with shrewd political instincts but presented as emotionally withdrawn. The most unflattering portrait is of Eleanor, TR's niece and FDR's wife, who is depicted as unattractive and neurotic, a terrible wife and mother who was responsible for the problems of her five adult children. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Portraits of the Oyster Bay and Hyde Park Roosevelts, always hung separately, are now framed together by Collier and Horowitz, family biographers of the Rockefellers, Kennedys, Fords, and, recently (by Collier alone), The Fondas (LJ 1/91). The preface advertises "a family civil war with almost Homeric overtones," yet the misdeeds, squabbles, and triumphs cataloged here more readily call to mind an average TV miniseries than classical epic. Academic libraries can pass because scholars will find nothing new concerning Theodore, Eleanor, or Franklin and little of interest about the lesser-known generations that followed. The book is an optional purchase for public libraries, whose readers will enjoy a more satisfying read in any one of many more finely crafted books about either Roosevelt branch.
Robert F. Nardini, North Chichester, N.H.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Find other books we are rehoming are at:  
https://www.amazon.com/s?me=A2H8L5Y37NB9PV&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER