Synopses & Reviews
An inspiring call to redeem the progressive legacy of the greatest generation, now under threat as never before.
For decades conservative and corporate interests have worked to obscure the greatest achievement of the Greatest Generation: securing Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms for all Americans. Freedom from want and fear; Freedom of speech and religion. These were the democratic aims that helped beat the Great Depression, defeat the Axis Powers in World War II, and turn the United States into the strongest and richest nation in history—and they remain the most significant legacy of America’s most progressive generation. This generation of Americans, often in the face of fierce conservative opposition, advanced freedom, equality, and democracy for all. Since the 1970s, the political right has fought to contain or reverse middle class prosperity and democratic rights for workers, women, and minorities.
In this eye-opening account, scholar and advocate Harvey Kaye recalls the full story of this generation’s extraordinary struggles and accomplishments. By making America, in FDR’s words, “fairly radical for a generation,” the Greatest Generation had their true rendezvous with destiny. And Kaye convinces that to honor them, it is time for another generation of Americans to do the same, before it is too late.
Review
"No one has ever loved a nation more or spanked it harder for straying from its premise than Harvey Kaye. Read The Fight for the Four Freedoms. It contains the historical truths that will set America free."
Review
"Harvey Kaye is the Indiana Jones of American historians. He claws his way into the past and returns with lost treasures. The Fight for the Four Freedoms is great history, as we've come to expect from Kaye. It tells a story that cannot be forgotten, of a visionary president and the generation he inspired to renew America and save the world. But it is, as well, a roadmap that can get this country off its long detour and back on the path FDR charted toward that freer, more equal and democratic America."
Review
“The Fight for The Four Freedoms reminds us that victory in World War II was measured not just in the defeat of America’s enemies, but also in securing the great progressive legacy of Franklin Roosevelt and the Greatest Generation: freedom from fear and want, freedom of speech and religion. As Kaye forcefully demonstrates, to safeguard, indeed broaden these freedoms is a challenge handed down to each later generation. This is a book by a patriot who invites his readers to share, to remember, to act and to be unafraid.”
Review
"Harvey Kaye has done it again. The Fight for the Four Freedoms reaches back into history - to Franklin Roosevelt's vision of a truly just and fair America - for inspiration about how we can re-imagine a progressive future. Just as he did with his important work on Thomas Paine, Kaye shows how the victories and defeats of the 1930s and 1940s - the struggle of our parents and grandparents - contain the bricks and straw for rebuilding democracy. Once again, he tells a spirited story written for you and me."
Review
“[A] rousing and readable history cum manifesto….In Kaye’s fierce vision, the Four Freedoms are not only a corrective lens through which to assess recent American history but also a vital promise, an urgent challenge, and a way forward.”
Review
“Kaye’s book will stir its intended audience, while illustrating what astute politicians and historians recognize: Political struggle is as much a battle over our past as it is over our present and future.”
Review
"Timely and inspiring"
Review
"A spirited call to remember and act on the original progressive intent of Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms."
Review
“If you believe America desperately needs a great surge of democracy in the face of fierce opposition from reactionary and corporate forces, then remembering and reviving the spirit of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died 69 years ago this week, is in order.”
Review
“[A] marvelous history lesson.”
Synopsis
An inspiring call to redeem the progressive legacy of the greatest generation, now under threat as never before.
On January 6, 1941, the Greatest Generation gave voice to its founding principles, the Four Freedoms: Freedom from want and from fear. Freedom of speech and religion. In the name of the Four Freedoms they fought the Great Depression. In the name of the Four Freedoms they defeated the Axis powers.
In the process they made the United States the richest and most powerful country on Earth. And, despite a powerful, reactionary opposition, the men and women of the Greatest Generation made America freer, more equal, and more democratic than ever before.
Now, when all they fought for is under siege, we need to remember their full achievement, and, so armed, take up again the fight for the Four Freedoms.
Synopsis
On January 6, 1941, the Greatest Generation gave voice to its founding principles, the Four Freedoms: Freedom from want and from fear. Freedom of speech and religion. In the name of the Four Freedoms they fought the Great Depression. In the name of the Four Freedoms they defeated the Axis powers.
In the process they made the United States the richest and most powerful country on Earth. And, despite a powerful, reactionary opposition, the men and women of the Greatest Generation made America freer, more equal, and more democratic than ever before.
Now, when all they fought for is under siege, we need to remember their full achievement, and, so armed, take up again the fight for the Four Freedoms.
About the Author
Harvey J. Kaye is the Ben & Joyce Rosenberg Professor of Democracy and Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the author of numerous books, including Thomas Paine and the Promise of America and Are We Good Citizens?