The Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford Series in History & Culture) [Paperback]

Richard D. Polenberg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312133103 | ISBN-13: 978-0312133108 | Publication Date: January 21, 2000 | Edition: First Edition

The era of Franklin D.Roosevelt and the New Deal was a time of depression and despair, economic rebirth and renewal, and mobilization for a war in both the East and the West. Richard Polenberg's introduction to this new volume provides an engaging historical and biographical overview of the period by focusing on one of its key actors. The biographical introduction is followed by over 45 topically arranged primary sources that provide students with a rich context in which to understand FDR's multifaceted role as president, reformer, policymaker, and commander-in-chief. The readings thoroughly cover issues of race and ethnicity, profile First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and explore the New Deal's transformative agencies for their economic and social ramifications and the constitutional revolution they triggered. A chronology, questions for consideration, a selected bibliography, and an index are also provided.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'It is extraordinarily difficult to write a good capsule overview of FDR, and Polenberg does an outstanding job ... The essay is crisp, clear, and to the point, yet nuanced at the same time.' - Allan M. Winkler, Miami University 'Polenberg has gathered a rich collection of documents that both reflect Roosevelt's contribution to the legislation and politics of the 1930s while simultaneously situating FDR within the political, social and cultural forces of the era.' - Nan Elizabeth Woodruff, Pennsylvania State University

About the Author

RICHARD POLENBERG is professor of history at Cornell University, where he has received the Clark Distinguished Teaching Award and was appointed Goldwin Smith Professor of American History in 1986. He has been a Fulbright Visiting Professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and has published widely on twentieth-century American history, including The World of Benjamin Cardozo: Personal Values and the Judicial Process (1997), Fighting Faiths: The Abrams Case, the Supreme Court, and Free Speech (1989), for which he won the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award and the Gustavus Myers Foundation's Outstanding Book Award; and One Nation Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States since 1938 (1980).

Product Details

• Paperback: 251 pages
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's; First Edition edition (January 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312133103
• ISBN-13: 978-0312133108
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Presidents & Heads of State

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars imbalanced but strong, April 25, 2003

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This review is from: The Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford Series in History & Culture) (Paperback)

According to its title, the book compiles documents from 1933-1945, the era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but the contents are strongly tilted toward the 1933-1941 period. Maybe that's justified, given Polenberg's clear focus on domestic social and political issues and given, of course, that the New Deal period consituted more years than World War II. But I felt more than a little disappointed by the brief treatment the war effort received. And the documents pertaining to the war focused largely on Japanese internment and the issue of bombing the concentration camps. These are both important topics and worthy of attention, particularly the latter which I fear is sometimes overlooked (and which is in many ways a telling issue). FDR's Four Freedoms speech is not included, nor the Atlantic Charter, nor the Pearl Harbor speech. The book would definitely have profited from inclusion of these documents and perhaps also of documents pertaining to strategy or military policy.

Nevertheless, the book has three strong points that make it worthwhile. One, Polenberg includes a wide variety of primary sources: speeches, photographs, Supreme Court decisions, letters, posters, poems, songs, press conferences, etc. The sources also come from a range of people, left and right, "large and small." This makes the book particularly useful as a teaching tool for showing students how to tackle primary documents of all types.

Two, in the book's imbalance lies its strongest element--it covers the Depression and the New Deal thoroughly, offering new perspectives and carving new dimensions. We hear from the Roosevelts, both Franklin and Eleanor. We read the views of writers John Steinbeck and Upton Sinclair, and of Roosevelt opponents Charles Coughlin and Huey Long. Administration officials provide their opinions on New Deal legislation (including the frequently ignored Federal Theatre Project). Dorothea Lange's photographs depict the misery and poverty of the Depression. Mexican-American, African-American, and Native American viewpoints also receive attention. Polenberg successfully draws documents to paint a multi-dimensional, in-depth portrait of the 1930s.

And three, Polenberg concludes with a fine bibliography for further reading on the various topics of spanned by the documents.

All in all, despite the weak coverage of World War II, the book is eminently useful for readers interested in the period and especially for teachers and students. Had Polenberg covered the war years in the same detail as the Depression/New Deal, this would be a thoroughly excellent sourcebook. Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile book and could function quite well in an AP history course, or as a complement to reading, say, David Kennedy's Freedom from Fear.