Casting Her Own Shadow [Paperback]

Allida M. Black (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0231104057 | ISBN-13: 978-0231104050 | Publication Date: April 15, 1997

Black shows how Eleanor Roosevelt, after being freed from the constraints imposed by her role in the White House, eagerly expanded her career and unabashedly challenged both the Democratic party and American liberals to practice what they preach.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Casting Her Own Shadow, historian Allida Black chronicles Eleanor Roosevelt's considerable---if often unacknowledged---influence on liberal politics. Throughout her adult life, Roosevelt campaigned for civil rights and women's issues, conducting a vigorous campaign of editorials in publications like Redbook and The New York Times to advance the causes she espoused. She enjoyed a huge following, Black notes, not least because her writing was commonsensical and good-humored, even when Roosevelt was clearly irritated. "I am beginning to think," she once observed, for instance, "that if you have been a liberal, and if you believe that those who are strong must sometimes consider the weak, and that with strength and power goes responsibility, automatically some people will consider you a Communist." Better known than her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, when he entered national politics, Eleanor managed to keep her own identity even as his advisors urged her to keep a lower profile and stay out of the news. What bearing does all this have on the present? Well, this is a matter being played out even now in Washington, for no one quite resembles Roosevelt so much as Hillary Clinton, whose work as a politician and newspaper columnist echoes Roosevelt's---and who has been similarly reviled for expressing independent ideas. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

In contrast to Blanche Cook's Eleanor Roosevelt (LJ 2/15/92) and Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time (LJ 9/15/94), which emphasize Eleanor Roosevelt's personality and social circumstances, this concise study argues that she was the most influential liberal powerbroker of the post-World War II era. Black (history, George Washington Univ.) does not attempt to flesh out Roosevelt's strong personality, which won the admiration of the public but angered the KKK and other extremist groups; instead, she focuses on Roosevelt's political career. Black is at her best while chronicling her subject's tenacious support for the civil rights of African Americans and the civil liberties of those accused of Communist leanings. Roosevelt, according to Black, redefined the role of First Lady and, more than any contemporary politician, promoted the liberal agenda?affordable housing, public education, and affirmative action?under attack today. Recommended for women's studies collections.?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231104057
• ISBN-13: 978-0231104050
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Roosevelt, Eleanor

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of the Shadow--Into the Sun, May 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Casting Her Own Shadow (Paperback)

Negotiating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the United Nations was not the only post-FDR contribution of Eleanor Roosevelt. This extraordinary woman was a powerful force within the Democratic Party and America until the day she died and left a legacy in her own right on issues of civil rights and civil liberties that finds voice even today.

Black's book focuses on Roosevelt's post-White House years and brings ER's domestic front activities and contributions to light--showing the long-term and deep nature of Eleanor Roosevelt's convictions. The book traces ER's growth in understanding of issues and underscores the courage it took to live her life in the forefront of debate and controversy.

This book should be read by anyone interested in Eleanor Roosevelt for the insight it brings and the truly interesting stories it tells. I particularly found the chapter on ER's relationship with John F. Kennedy fascinating and learned that ER withheld her support for his candidacy until he promised her action on civil rights. Ever the consumate tactition, she even rearranged the chairs at the famous meeting between them at Val Kil so she would be sitting higher than him.

"Casting" is pain-stakingly researched and well documented. Allida Black's interpretation of ER is founded on years of work with Roosevelt's papers and other sources.

3.0 out of 5 stars Casting Her Own Shadow, December 22, 2010

By 

bstinson68 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Casting Her Own Shadow: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Shaping of Postwar Liberalism (Hardcover)

The book was fine. I received it in a good amount of time. It was an old library copy which I didn't expect but in good condition and it was a hard back.