Synopses & Reviews
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author, "a brilliant biography"* of the 28th president of the United States. *Doris Kearns Goodwin
One hundred years after his inauguration, Woodrow Wilson still stands as one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, and one of the most enigmatic. And now, after more than a decade of research and writing, Pulitzer Prizewinning author A. Scott Berg has completed Wilsonthe most personal and penetrating biography ever written about the twenty-eighth President.
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of documents in the Wilson Archives, Berg was the first biographer to gain access to two recently discovered caches of papers belonging to those close to Wilson. From this material, Berg was able to add countless detailseven several unknown eventsthat fill in missing pieces of Wilsons character, and cast new light on his entire life.
From the visionary Princeton professor who constructed a model for higher education in America to the architect of the ill-fated League of Nations, from the devout Commander in Chief who ushered the country through its first great World War to the widower of intense passion and turbulence who wooed a second wife with hundreds of astonishing love letters, from the idealist determined to make the world safe for democracy” to the stroke-crippled leader whose incapacityand the subterfuges around itwere among the centurys greatest secrets, from the trailblazer whose ideas paved the way for the New Deal and the Progressive administrations that followed to the politician whose partisan battles with his opponents left him a broken man, and ultimately, a tragic figurethis is a book at once magisterial and deeply emotional about the whole of Wilsons life, accomplishments, and failings. This is not just Wilson the iconbut Wilson the man.
INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS
Review
Praise for A. Scott Bergs Wilson
“[A] breathtaking biography.”—The Boston Globe
“A brilliant biography that still resonates in America today.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin
“Magisterial . . . At once intimate, sweeping, and authoritative.”—Los Angeles Times
“Berg, an elegant, prizewinning biographer whose fluent prose and honest sense of majesty have much in common with Wilsons own writing, is especially well-suited to his subject.”—The New Yorker
“With the prescience that all truly great biographers possess, Berg discovered in Woodrow Wilson a figure who would understand Washingtons current state of affairs.”—Vanity Fair
“Mr. Berg reminds us of Wilsons wit. . . . And he reminds us of Wilsons tragedy. . . . A very good work of history.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Mr. Bergs Wilson succeeds magnificently . . . It is no mean biographical achievement to have revealed Wilson the man with such delicacy and empathy.”—The Washington Times
“The most personal and penetrating biography written about the twenty-eighth president.”—New York Daily News
“[A] landmark biography.”—Louisville Courier-Journal
“[A] majestic biography . . . Insightful and intimate.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“By far the best single study of Wilsons life and times . . . Bergs study should remain the standard biography of this tragic figure for a long time.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Should be required reading . . . Bergs illumination of the presidents humanity is riveting.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“[A] masterly portrait.”—Simon Winchester, The Wall Street Journal holiday gift guide
“An astonishing tale, narrated with moving efficiency and precision by Scott Berg.”—Robert McCrum, The Guardian (UK)
“Penetrating . . . readers can walk away with a profound and unique perspective on the man, offered by one of our most gifted biographers.”—Deseret News
“It has taken nearly a century for someone with Bergs own, somewhat Wilsonian drive to take the full measure of this singular president whose soul echoes, fitfully, in the professorial aura and singularity of Barack Obama.”—USA Today
“Berg is a masterful biographer; his books on Charles Lindbergh, Samuel Goldwyn, and Max Perkins have received well-deserved plaudits and prizes. Wilson is a comparably rewarding reading experience. . . . An absorbing look at a formative period in American history and a magnanimous appraisal of an uncommon leader whose controversial idealism resounds to this day.”—The Miami Herald
“No previous biographer has told [Wilsons] story so well.”—The Daily Beast
“Exhaustively researched and wonderfully written. . . . This vivid portrait of Wilson and America has much to offer readers who understand that the world and our nation are still confronting many of the issues that Wilson faced in the White House a century ago.”—Bookreporter.com
“Bergs research is deep and thorough.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Readable, authoritative, and, most usefully, inspiring.”—Kirkus Reviews
“[An] excellent biography.”—Library Journal (starred review)
Synopsis
Few American icons provoke more enduring fascination than Charles Lindbergh—renowned for his one-man transatlantic flight in 1927, remembered for the sorrow surrounding the kidnapping and death of his firstborn son in 1932, and reviled by many for his opposition to America's entry into World War II. Lindbergh's is "a dramatic and disturbing American story," says the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and this biography—the first to be written with unrestricted access to the Lindbergh archives and extensive interviews of his friends, colleagues, and close family members—is "the definitive account."
About the Author
A. Scott Berg is the author of Wilson and four previous bestselling biographies: Max Perkins: Editor of Genius (1978) winner of the National Book Award and basis for the movie starring Colin Firth and Jude Law; Goldwyn, for which he received a Guggenheim Fellowship; Lindbergh, winner of the Pulitzer Prize; and Kate Remembered, his biographical memoir of Katharine Hepburn. Berg lives in Los Angeles.
Table of Contents
Part One
1. Karma
2. Northern Lights
3. No Place Like Home
4. Under a Wing
5. Spirit
6. Perchance to Dream
Part Two
7. Only a Man
8. Unicorns
9. "We"
10. Sourland
11. Apprehension
12. Circus Maximus
Part Three
13. Rising Tides
14. The Great Debate
15. Clipped Wings
Part Four
16. Phoenix
17. Double Sunrise
18. Alone Together
19. Aloha
Acknowledgments
Notes and Sources
Permissions
Index