Status
Available
Publication
New York : Doubleday, 2008.
Description
A sweeping biography of the life and political career of Franklin Delano Roosevelt draws on archival materials, public speeches, interviews with family and colleagues, and personal correspondence to examine FDR's political leadership in a dark time of Depression and war, his championship of the poor, his revolutionary New Deal legislation, and his legacy for the future.
Media reviews
H.W. Brands, writes with an ease not common among academic historians...Brands revisits all the familiar material with a storyteller’s touch, making Traitor to His Class a good beginner’s book for readers seeking a fuller sense of FDR’s life and times than the entertainment media can provide.
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He also conveys a sense of the Roosevelt political genius at work. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member jmcilree
Misleading title since this is a very complimentary bio of FDR. The thing that strikes me most about FDR and the New Deal is how unsuccesful and counter-productive his poliices were. Even worse, a valid arugment can be made that his polcieis made the Depression longer and more severe. But his
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greatness was in preparing the US for war with Germany and Japan and guiding the country through WWII. Well worth the read. Show Less
LibraryThing member spencermamer
I mean this with no exaggeration: H.W. Brands's "Traitor to His Class" is incredibly well-written, well-researched, and addictively engaging. One of the best biographies I've ever read of anyone.
LibraryThing member Janientrelac
Very interesting, well written but very little about the theme as stated in the title, did the author decide on the title first and then find out that there really wasn't the information. FDR didn't explain himself much.
LibraryThing member AntT
I grew up around grandparents on one side who worshipped Roosevelt. Those on the other side thought him a traitor to his class. I had to read the book, and I enjoyed it. Well conceived and written.
LibraryThing member michaelbartley
A very nice one vol. biography of FDR, it shows the man, the people around him and a good overview of the times. I recommend it for anyone that wants to know who FDR was and what he did
LibraryThing member santhony
I was given this audiobook as a gift and found it to be a good, though perhaps overly brief overview of the life of one of our most controversial and celebrated Presidents. I suspect that my version (10 1/2 hours) is an abridged version, though I do not see that printed on the CD container. The
My great grandfather, an entrepreneur from the early 20th century despised Roosevelt more than the devil. The New Deal, support of organized labor, the income tax, socialism, all went against everything he believed in. He was convinced that World War II saved Roosevelt from defeat in the 1940 election and a lasting and deserved reputation as an abject failure as President. Nevertheless, World War II did in fact lift the country out of the Great Depression, and lifted Roosevelt into the pantheon of our most celebrated Presidents.
This book is a fair and balanced treatemnt of Roosevelt's life. It is not a hagiography and gives the failures as well as the successes of Roosevelt's life and Presidency.
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book is perhaps more detailed. My great grandfather, an entrepreneur from the early 20th century despised Roosevelt more than the devil. The New Deal, support of organized labor, the income tax, socialism, all went against everything he believed in. He was convinced that World War II saved Roosevelt from defeat in the 1940 election and a lasting and deserved reputation as an abject failure as President. Nevertheless, World War II did in fact lift the country out of the Great Depression, and lifted Roosevelt into the pantheon of our most celebrated Presidents.
This book is a fair and balanced treatemnt of Roosevelt's life. It is not a hagiography and gives the failures as well as the successes of Roosevelt's life and Presidency.
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LibraryThing member bruchu
Comprehensive Biography of FDR
At 800 plus pages, H.W. Brands's new book "Traitor To His Class" is certainly an exhaustive biography of one of the most influential presidents in American history in Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Having read extensively on FDR, the Great Depression, and World War II, I
Overall, this is a highly enjoyable, if slightly left-wing liberal leaning look at the life of FDR. Definitely recommend for anyone who has an interest in twentieth-century history or history of the United States.
At 800 plus pages, H.W. Brands's new book "Traitor To His Class" is certainly an exhaustive biography of one of the most influential presidents in American history in Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Having read extensively on FDR, the Great Depression, and World War II, I
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have to say that I was personally a little disappointed in that there was little in Brands's new book that I did not already know. Still, this is a sweeping look at a crucial point in the trajectory of America's pre-eminent and emerging superpower status. Brands's is not just an academic and this book shows off his story-telling skills -- an intellectual who proves he can also be interesting and relevant.Overall, this is a highly enjoyable, if slightly left-wing liberal leaning look at the life of FDR. Definitely recommend for anyone who has an interest in twentieth-century history or history of the United States.
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LibraryThing member AntT
I grew up around grandparents on one side who worshipped Roosevelt. Those on the other side thought him a traitor to his class. I had to read the book, and I enjoyed it. Well conceived and written.
LibraryThing member twp77
Brand's Traitor to His Class is a highly fact-filled read on the political life of FDR. While the title suggests a more analytical approach, it is in fact a highly narrative one. Brand focuses a great deal on FDR during the New Deal period and less so on the WW2 period. Clearly this period was the
As with most biographies of FDR, he comes across as a brilliant politician who was able to navigate a wide variety of interests with a contradictory combination of charm and brutal political shrewdness. FDR was an idealist only to a degree, using the Constitution when it suited him and discarding it when it did not - as evidenced in both the attempted packing of the Supreme Court and the later internment of Japanese Americans. He had a way of maintaining a balance between different individuals to allow the best outcome to come forth. While this way of working often drove his contemporary subordinates to distraction in domestic affairs, the book highlights this trait as an indispensable asset on the international stage. It is clear that a man with a different political style could have had a negative impact on international relations for years to come. As it was, and in spite of the Cold War, one finishes reading Brand's work being grateful to have had a person with FDR's temperament leading the United States during such a tumultuous and unpredictable time, despite his numerous contradictions and faults.
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one in which FDR was considered a "traitor" to his upper class roots but as Brand correctly shows, once the war began, FDR turned away from labor and towards big business. While this switch from "Dr. New Deal" towards "Dr. Win the War" was certainly an important part of FDR's approach, it seems evident that he was getting ready to turn once again towards the working class and the poor with his "Second Bill of Rights" proposals near the end of both his life and WW2.As with most biographies of FDR, he comes across as a brilliant politician who was able to navigate a wide variety of interests with a contradictory combination of charm and brutal political shrewdness. FDR was an idealist only to a degree, using the Constitution when it suited him and discarding it when it did not - as evidenced in both the attempted packing of the Supreme Court and the later internment of Japanese Americans. He had a way of maintaining a balance between different individuals to allow the best outcome to come forth. While this way of working often drove his contemporary subordinates to distraction in domestic affairs, the book highlights this trait as an indispensable asset on the international stage. It is clear that a man with a different political style could have had a negative impact on international relations for years to come. As it was, and in spite of the Cold War, one finishes reading Brand's work being grateful to have had a person with FDR's temperament leading the United States during such a tumultuous and unpredictable time, despite his numerous contradictions and faults.
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LibraryThing member neobardling
Brands' biography of FDR is written in such a manner, that he intertwines the narrative of FDR's life, with natinoal and world events. Brands' approach weaves a narrative to where he argues that FDRs actions were influenced by such world and national events--before the 1930s and the Great
I personally did not see the connection between the title and the narrative itself; but that does not dissuade.
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Depression!I personally did not see the connection between the title and the narrative itself; but that does not dissuade.
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
5615. Traitor to His Class The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, by H. W. Brands (read 11 Mar 2019) This is the sixth book by H. W. Brands I have read. It was published in 2005 and thus is newer than other FDR biographies I have read, such as the two volumes by
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Geoffrey Ward (which I read 15 Oct 1993 and 12 Sep 1995), Conrad Black's biography of FDR (which I read 4 Apr 2004) James McGregor Burns' 2 volume biography (which I read in May 2006) and Jean Edward Smith's biography (read 8 Aug 2009). I found reading this consistently good reading. It is pleasingly chronological which is always a feature I enjoy in a biography. Both the accounts of the New Deal years and of the war years are done with just the right amount of detail. Brands' approval of FDR is not slavish and he points out the flaws but overall his recital of the events is fair and in accord with what is true. The account of his death is poignant and took me back to that time, which I remember so vividly. Show Less
LibraryThing member Rockhead515
Excellent! I really enjoyed this book and learned quite a bit.
Covers FDR well, though it is a little on the softer side regarding anything negative, but pretty well balanced.
Covers FDR well, though it is a little on the softer side regarding anything negative, but pretty well balanced.
LibraryThing member tuckerresearch
Brands presents a serviceable and highly readable biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. No real new ground is broken here, but it is pretty good. Brands does have a tendency, with much of academe, to laud and whitewash FDR of his faults, however. FDR's affairs are lightly explained away. His
All-in-all, a good biography of FDR, a bit fawning (but almost all of them are). Well-written, lucid, good coverage.
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ineptitude at actually getting rid of the Great Depression is glossed over. Guess what? FDR and the New Deal did nothing to get rid of the Great Depression. All the agencies, all the welfare, all the dole, all the money, it hired some people temporarily and built some nice monuments and parks, but the economy did not recover until 1941 (when the US was building war material and supplying our future war allies). Brands, like many a liberal, covers this up by saying that at least things were getting better. The New Deal was a racket, which many newer books will show. For instance FDR's Folly which not only shows the economy did not get better but that much of the money went not to those who needed it most but the constituencies Democrats most needed to "buy" for votes. Amity Shlaes's great The Forgotten Man shows, from a more social side, how the New Deal really didn't fix anything. The 1937 Roosevelt Recession? Only on one measly page, and spliced into war stuff so it doesn't seem important, does Brands admit that FDR did not fix the economy (p. 536): "...in private he [FDR] was honest enough to recognize the New Deal's central failure—to end the depression itself." The Tehran and Yalta conferences are covered well, but FDR's fawning belief in Stalin and his belief that he could "control" Stalin are glossed over. Finally, whereas almost all other historical figures are brought to task for their failures at encourage equal civil rights for black Americans (even, as of late, progressive hero Woodrow Wilson is being called to the carpet), FDR is here given a pass. Not willing to stir up a hornets nest among the southern Democrats (who were progressives, Brands, not conservatives, as you say a million times—they wanted and voted for progressive, statist, government-growing policies), FDR did no pushing on the issue of civil rights. He didn't even support a bill that would make lynching a federal crime. Tsk. But, this is all elided by Brands. No muck must encrust the crown of the sainted, liberal-progressive hero Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who saved us with the New Deal and defeated the perfidious Hitler.All-in-all, a good biography of FDR, a bit fawning (but almost all of them are). Well-written, lucid, good coverage.
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Awards
Pulitzer Prize (Finalist — 2009)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Biography — 2008)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Biography — 2008)
Language
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