Synopses & Reviews
A long-overdue tribute to the extraordinary woman behind Winston Churchill By Winston Churchills own admission, victory in the Second World War would have been impossible without her.” Until now, however, the only existing biography of Churchills wife, Clementine, was written by her daughter. Sonia Purnell finally gives Clementine her due with a deeply researched account that tells her life story, revealing how she was instrumental in softening FDRs initial dislike of her husband and paving the way for Britains close relationship with America. It also provides a surprising account of her relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt and their differing approaches to the war effort.
Born into impecunious aristocracy, the young Clementine was the target of cruel snobbery. Many wondered why Winston married her, but their marriage proved to be an exceptional partnership. Beautiful and intelligent, but driven by her own insecurities, she made his career her mission. Any real consideration of Winston Churchill is incomplete without an understanding of their relationship, and Clementine is both the first real biography of this remarkable woman and a fascinating look inside their private world.
Synopsis
In her remarkably engaging narrative, Cook profiles the complete Eleanor Roosevelt: an adventurous, romantic woman, devoted wife and mother, and visionary policymaker and social activist who often took unpopular stands counter to her husband's policies. A biography of scholarship and daring, it is a volume for all readers of American history. 32 photos.
Synopsis
The central volume in the definitive biography of America's most important First Lady. "Engrossing" (Boston Globe).
Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume Three, 1938-1962, will be published in November. Volume Two covers 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, Cook 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."
Synopsis
The central volume in the definitive biography of America's most important First Lady. "Engrossing" (Boston Globe). The captivating second volume of this Eleanor Roosevelt biography covers 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, Cook 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.
Synopsis
Historians, politicians, feminists, critics, and reviewers everywhere have praised Blanche Wiesen Cook's monumental Eleanor Roosevelt as the definitive portrait of this towering female figure of the twentieth century. Now in her long-awaited, majestic second volume, Cook 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, Cook 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.
About the Author
Blanche Wiesen Cook is Distinguished Professor of History at John Jay College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She is senior editor of the Garland Library of War and Peace, author of Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One: 1884-1933 (available from Viking and Penguin), Crystal Eastman on Women and Revolution and The Declassified Eisenhower, and is a former vice-president for research at the American Historical Association.
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Becoming First Lady
2. Public and Private Domains
3. ER's Revenge: Henrietta Nesbit, Head Housekeeper
4. Mobilizing the Women's Network: Friendships, Press Conferences, Patronage
5. ER's New Deal for Women
6. Family Discord and the London Economic Conference
7. Private Times and Reports from Germany
8. Creating a New Community
9. The Quest for Racial Justice
10. The Crusade to End Lynching
11. Private Friendship, Public Time
12. Negotiating the Political Rapids
13. 1935: Promises and Compromises
14. The Victories of Summer, 1935
15: Mobilizing for New Action
16: A Silence Beyond Repair
17: Red Scare and Campaign Strategies, 1936
18: The Roosevelt Hearth, After Howe
19: The Election of 1936
20: Postelection Missions
21: Second Chance for the New Deal
22: 1937: To Build a New Movement
23: A First Lady's Survival: Work and Run
24: This Is My Story
25: This Troubled World, 1938
26: Race Radicals, Youth and Hope
27: Storms on Every Front
Notes
Notes on Sources and Selected Bibliography
Index