Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume 2, The Defining Years, 1933-1938 by Blanche Wiesen Cook

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

Author: Blanche Wiesen Cook

Publication Date: 1999

No. of Pages: 704

Synopsis (from B&N and Amazon): "[This volume] chronicles Roosevelt's first six years as America's most controversial first lady [and] maps her contributions to the New Deal. [The author] takes readers through the 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, [the author] 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."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: This is the second volume of Cook's biography; volume one covered the years 1884-1933. I found both volumes very informative and highly researched. The author had access to a great deal of Mrs. Roosevelt's correspondence and made much use of it, often quoting from letters and speeches to support her conclusions. Mrs. R was definitely her own person and never shirked from what she saw as her duty to others, even when that meant disagreeing publicly with FDR. She also had a complicated private life, and the author devotes equal time and researach to both private and public lives. Overall, an enjoyable book, and I'm hoping that volume three is in the works.

Would You Recommend This Book to Others: Yes.

Challenges: None, but it does count toward my 101 Things in 1001 Days project.