The new book: Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 3: The War Years And After, 1939-1962 Is the final volume in Blanche Wiesen Cook’s definitive biography of one of America’s greatest first ladies. Historians, politicians and critics have praised Blanche Wiesen Cook’s biography of Eleanor Roosevelt as the essential portrait of a woman who towers over the twentieth century.
Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 3 follows the arc of war and the evolution of a marriage, as the first lady realized the cost of maintaining her principles even as the country and her husband were not prepared to adopt them. Eleanor Roosevelt continued to struggle for her core issues—economic security, New Deal reforms, racial equality, and rescue—when they were sidelined by FDR while he marshaled the country through war.
The chasm between Eleanor and Franklin grew, and the strains on their relationship were as political as they were personal. These years—the war years—made Eleanor Roosevelt the woman she became: leader, visionary, guiding light. Blanche Wiesen Cook is a distinguished professor of history at John Jay College and Graduate Center at the City University of New York.
