Before the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1905 (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: very well with the fellows, very nice child, senior prefect, New York, Hyde Park, Warren Delano (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 390 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (May 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060154519
• ISBN-13: 978-0060154516
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,742,966 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read as well as scholarly, December 16, 2000

By	Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Before the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt 1882-1905 (Leaders of Our Time) (Hardcover)

Geoffrey Ward shares the ability of David McCullough, and that is to take a scholarly topic and write about it intelligently and coherently. He also makes the journey fun for the reader and he showcases this ability in this excellent book. FDR as a youth was a very different man from the President he was to become. Polio was the defining moment that both changed FDR and deepended his compassion and understanding for the downtrodden.

In this first volume of Ward's Roosevelt trilogy, he illuminates FDR's dominating mother and the problems she caused between Franklin and Eleanor. One almost cringes when the obtrusive Sarah Roosevelt plans her son's honeymoon, buys homes for him (with connecting doors for her to intrude upon)and basically usurps FDR's own decision-making processes.

Franklin Roosevelt was not a great man, or a particularly engrossing man when young. He achieved greatness only after tragedy befell him, but Ward sets the stage here for Roosevelt's later greatness. If you're interested in Roosevelt or the flighty, banal rich New York set of the turn of the century, then this is your cup of tea. It is also a fine book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Before The Greatness..., May 19, 2004

By	Eliot A. Kopp (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Before the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt 1882-1905 (Paperback)

The contention of this wonderfully detailed book that chronicles the life of FDR from his birth in 1882 and concludes with his marriage to Eleanor in 1905 is that the makings of a great person can be found in his or her upbringing. A thorough analysis of both the Roosevelt and Delano families throughout the 1800's lends creedence to the fact that FDR was groomed to be great by both sides of the family. I finished this engrossing and well-written book in a few days, and I am enjoying immensely the second part of the saga, Ward's A FIRST CLASS TEMPERAMENT, which takes FDR's story from his marriage through to his reentry into politics in 1928.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a Marvelous book, September 17, 2000

By	Schmerguls "schmerguls" (Sioux City, Ia USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Before the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt 1882-1905 (Leaders of Our Time) (Hardcover)

Most of this book is about FDR's family and it is fascinating. It reminded me some of David McCullough's Mornings on Horseback, although FDR had a very different youth from TR's. I had forgotten how rich FDR's family was, and the opulence with which they lived. And what dramatic lives they had--the Delanos and their time in China make a fantastic story. And when you read this great book you will want to read the sequel, A Fist Class Temperament