Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 1985 November #1 Morgan is one of the few biographers of Franklin Roosevelt to attempt a complete life in one volume. His Roosevelt, opportunistic and shallow as a young man, was transformed by his fight with polio. As president, he was a political artist whose genius lay in being able to embody the country's collective will. Morgan takes special pains to defend Roosevelt against old charges of trickery at Pearl Harbor and gullibility at Yalta. All of this is familiar territory, covered before in greater style. Morgan has been unable to control his material, delivering a wandering narrative without shape or force. Though the book is aimed at a popular audience, not many readers will persevere through every digression, every chatty anecdote. The multivolume studies by Freidel, Schlesinger, and Burns remain authoritative. Nathan Miller's FDR ( LJ 1/1/83), with less detail but more grace, is a better one-volume popular biography. Not recommended. BOMC featured alternate. Robert F. Nardini, formerly with Concord P.L., N.H. Copyright 1985 Cahners Business Information.
Book
