I recently had occasion to re-read James MacGregor Burns's marvelous Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox and was deeply impressed by how well its has withstood the test of time. The early paperback edition of this book, which was originally published in 1956 and covers the period from 1882 until 1940, characterized it as the "first political biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt," and it continues to be the authoritative study of Roosevelt's preparation for and then conduct of his first two terms as president, when domestic affairs demanded most of his attention. This remains a wonderful book about this country's greatest politician of the 20th century, and it also offers many penetrating insights into the American political system.

Burns's treatment of Roosevelt is comprehensive, "[treating] much of [Roosevelt's] personal as well as his public life, because a great politician's career remorselessly sucks everything into its vortex." Roosevelt was the only child of a member of the upstate New York landed gentry, and he could have led a life of leisure. Instead, he was sent to Groton School in Massachusetts, where the headmaster, according to Burns, "made much of his eagerness to educate his boys for political leadership." Roosevelt completed his formal education at Harvard College and Columbia University Law School. Burns writes that Roosevelt's first elective office, as a New York State Senator was a "political education," and he became a "Young Lion" in Albany. Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in Washington, D.C., during World War I and was the candidate for Vice President on the Democrat Party's unsuccessful ticket in 1920. In 1921, Roosevelt was stricken with polio, and the crippling disease would have ended the public career of a less ambitious and determined man. Instead, he continued to work hard at politics, was elected Governor of New York in 1928 and then President in 1932. This was just the beginning of a remarkable career in high office.

Burns makes clear that Roosevelt was a progressive in the tradition of Woodrow Wilson but was without strong ideas or a specific agenda. According to Burns: "The presidency, Roosevelt said shortly after his election, 'is preeminently a place of moral leadership.'" Retired Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes offered this cutting assessment: "A second -class intellect, but a first-class temperament." Action to combat the depression was necessary to restore public confidence in government, and the first Hundred Days of Roosevelt's first term was one of the great periods of legislative achievement in American history. Burns writes: "Roosevelt was following no master program." However, in Burns's view: "The classic test of greatness in the White House has been the chief executive's capacity to lead Congress." According to that test, Roosevelt was a great president. Burns writes that, "[i]n his first two years in office Roosevelt achieved to a remarkable degree the exalted position of being President of all the people." Burns explains: "A remarkable aspect of the New Deal was the sweep and variety of the groups it helped."

As early as 1934, however, organized conservative opposition to the New Deal was forming. (A newspaper cartoon reprinted here shows a figure identified as the Republican Party holding a sign stating: "Roosevelt is a Red!") Roosevelt was increasingly attacked as a traitor to his class, but a large measure of his genius was his ability to hold the more extreme elements of the New Deal in check. Roosevelt's political skills were tested in every way. For instance, Burns writes that Senator Robert Wagner's National Labor Relations Act, which proposed to"[vest] massive economic and political power in organized labor" "was the most radical legislation passed during the New Deal." According to Burns, Roosevelt's initial reaction to the bill was "invariably cool or evasive," and the president, with what Burns describes as "typical Rooseveltian agility," announced his support for the bill only after its passage was certain. Burns demonstrates that Roosevelt's support, both in Congress and among the public, gradually eroded in the late 1930s, but he was, of course, elected again in 1940 and 1944. Roosevelt's nomination in 1940 was especially skillful. Many in his own party favored maintaining the tradition of limiting presidents to two terms, and Democratic Party leaders lined up in the hope of succeeding Roosevelt. Roosevelt outfoxed all of them and was elected to his historic third term.

I believe it is fair to say that Burns admires Roosevelt, but this book is not a whitewash. Burns candidly writes about Roosevelt's "deviousness." And the author is appropriately critical of Roosevelt's attempt to "pack" the Supreme Court following his overwhelming re-election in 1936. However, in my opinion, these instances simply are proof of the truism that great men are not always good men. Burns took the subtitle of this book from the Italian Renaissance political philosopher Machiavelli's dictum that a political leader must be strong like a lion and shrewd like a fox. Franklin D. Roosevelt was both, and that made him a great president. This is a great political biography of that great president

FDR was perhaps the craftiest politician to occupy the White House since Lincoln. The Title, "...Lion and the Fox" is an allusion to Machiavelli's dictum that one must be stouthearted like a lion and crafty like a fox. FDR combined these qualities to achieve political mastery of his time.

This book focus on his life up to the start of WWII. It paints a thorough life portrait of the president and illustrates the events and experiences that shaped this master politician. Although enjoying congressional majorities like no other president (that certainly aided the implementation of his program), FDR had to over come the reluctance of both GOP and Democrat conservatives to rework the federal government into the active economic and social player it is today. McGreggor's book explains how FDR the man made the New Deal possible.

This is a well written book that gives evidence of being thoroughly researched. For anyone interested in presidential history, I'd recommend this book.

Gives a fantastic account of FDR from his privileged childhood and days at Groton, to his harsh induction into the world of politics; the skill at which he maneuvered the political currents to the New York Capital in Albany, and ultimately the White House. Once there Burns gives an account of passionate dedication to the American people, both during the Depression and WWII, that most likely was not seen since Lincoln. A must for anyone's Presidential Biographical collection.

The national forest's trails and wonders are revealed by authors who've hiked the trails most of their lives. 100 of the most scenic, strenuous hikes are described in a guide which requires strong walking skills and access to North Carolina wilderness region.

This is an execellent book that provides helpful descriptions of each trail and how to find them. Especially helpful that it uses USGS maps instead of printing their own. I highly recommend this book.

This book details some wonderful hikes in the North Carolina mountains. Experienced hikers and casual strollers alike will find ample adventures mapped out in this excellent book. The authors, all natives of NC, have certainly put much time and energy into creating a book that would reflect their love of the outdoors and their special fondness for the western section of NC. I highly recommend this guide. Enjoy!

Giblin and Dooling have collaborated to make a perfect picture book biography. Roy Goodman's (leading Ben Franklin historian) expertise makes this book a wealth of information that can assist children in the writing of school reports. This book is so rich with detail. The fact that there is an Illustrator's Note by Dooling makes this a real candidate for at least a Caldecott Honor. I have visited Dooling's web site and now plan to purchase a sketch or original painting from this book! Outstanding!

What famous person helped start the first library in the American colonies? Who also helped to establish the first fire department in the American colonies? Who helped establish the first hospital in Philadelphia? Who first proved the electricity and lightning were one and the same thing? Even if you didn't guess right, you will probably agree that the man who did all of these things, plus a whole lot more, had to be a very interesting fellow. And he was. In THE AMAZING LIFE OF BEN FRANKLIN, James Cross Giblin tells us all about it. Ben was born in Boston, the youngest of ten sons, and one of seventeen children. When he was ten years old, he started helping out in his father's soap and candlemaking shop, and he absolutely hated it. His father then apprenticed him to his brother, a printer, and printing turned out to be one of the many things that Ben loved to do. In fact, on his tombstone, that is all he wanted said-B. Franklin, a printer. But we all know now that Ben turned out to be one of the most famous and most beloved people in American history-and this is his story. There are great color illustrations. This is the best possible introduction to our own beloved Ben Franklin.

I agree with the last reviewer - this model is great. I bought the NIV with KJV add-in module so I can switch easily between the 2 versions. The large type setting is easy on "elderly" eyes - the screen is small but you only have to hit the spacebar to go to the next screen-full. With the Franklin Electronic Bible you can find passages or specific phrases quickly, so it is a fantastic help with everything from witnessing to Bible crossword puzzles. And it fits in most shirt pockets or hip pockets. A little pricey, perhaps, but worth it. Thanks to Him.

I just wish I had this when I was young. I have been a bible student my whole life. But now that I am over the hill, I have such a hard time rememebering where my favorite verses are--now in a second or two I can find where they are in the Bible. In the Search area, you can enter or Bible verse or a word search. The word search will list all texts that have that particular word in them. Narrow the search by listing more words. Another plus is the text size. There are three sizes to chose from. If you have a hard time seeing, the large size is very helpful. I don't recommend the bible for just reading. It is mainly for studying. (well, it is also great for taking with you because it is so small.) Another big plus is the slot for another cartridge. I haven't use it yet but am sure that it will be a lot of fun. I would like to get the NIV version so that I can campare the two translations. If you get one of these bibles, everyone will want it--so make sure you keep good track of it. Or better yet buy two. You'll love it.

Professional historians might slight Jim Bishop's work -- "The Day Christ Died;" "The Day Lincoln Was Shot" -- as "popularizations." So they are. Not much new in either of these: just good writing and empathy. There is a role for these qualities, one would think, even in the footnoted world of the professional.

"FDR's Last Year" lacks footnotes too. Its biblography is barely up to undergraduate term paper standards. It is, without doubt, beautifully written. So far, so good. But, it is more than just a facile rehash of research done by others. It is a moving account of a great human and historical tragedy -- the physical and mental deterioration of the god-like FDR at what should have been his moment of historic triumph.

By the spring of '44, when the book opens, President Roosevelt was already on borrowed time. There was a world of difference between the buoyant and vigorous champion of 1933 (or, even, 1943) and the increasingly depressed, distracted, and enervated Chief Executive of the late war years. Bishop does not dance around any of this -- but he does not succomb, either, to the harsher portraiture that has been drawn of a senile and naive FDR about to be taken to the cleaners by the Russians.

Some of what the tired president did during his waning months defies rational analysis. What was the purpose of his quixotic meetings with three middle eastern kings on his way back from Yalta? What made him think they would be interested in his hare-brained schemes to "make the desert bloom?" Was his meglomania simply in control here?

Yet, Bishop keeps his focus on the main event: FDR's self-destroying mission to create a postwar world that would not self-destruct into war as had the post-Versailles world. For this, his inspiration was his own political mentor -- Woodrow Wilson. While Churchill and Stalin reveled in their own species of cynicism, the tired and dispirited FDR, well-aware he was dying, held to a vision of a world organization that might offer humanity something better than realpolitik.

Roosevelt sacrificed himself to this vision. Burned himself out in pursuit of it. Churchill was interested only in British imperialism and FDR saw him for what he was -- a hopeless reactionary brought to power by a temporary crisis. Stalin was -- well, Stalin was the one man who had as much blood on his hands as Hitler. Of the "Big Three," only FDR tried to rise above chauvinism toward a broader, more humane future.

This broad view of humanity is exemplified by FDR's contempt for imperialism and his determination not to allow the French back into Indo-China. It is a sobering thought that had he been spared, the Viet Nam War need never have been fought.

Bishop gives a compassionate account of FDR's covert romance with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd. The dying man, and the aging widow, found inestimable comfort in one another's company. It was too late in the day for both of them. The time for happiness was past. But, they clung to one another as the darkness closed about them.

This is a story about a dying god. A self-immolation in pursuit of an ideal. The impossibly handsome and charming FDR, the most politcally astute chief executive in our history, fading away into nascent senility and physical decreptitude. One is reminded of the last scene of "All Quiet In the Western Front," where the soon-to-die soldier played by Lew Ayres reaches out for a beautiful butterfly in No Man's Land in a last attempt to seize beauty out of death.

This is a marvelous book. Parts of it, such as the embalming of FDR's body, are almost too painful to read. Bishop brings an empathy, pathos, and compassion to his subject that is altogether absent from nearly all "professional" works of history. It is a moving and deeply illuminating work.

As a former educator and one who has worked for the State Department in our nation's capitol, I found FDR'S LAST YEAR not only to be enjoyable reading but one of the most profoundly written books of history I have ever come across. It was so detailed and I saw FDR for the first time to be thoroughly human.The fact that I discovered this book to be out of print, surprised and disappointed me, to say the least.

After I finished, I felt that I had not only lived in the White House that last year, but worked closley with the former President. Love him or hate him, FDR'S LAST YEAR is a must read for all those interested in the history and politics of this country.

This story mixes swashbuckling adventure, suspense and mystery-- I was hooked from the very first page! I highly recommend this book to any good reader-- but especially boys looking for an exciting story.

This book is written by leading psychiatrists who were among the first to identify the powerful danger of addiction to this form of cocaine. Crack was introduced into the Bahamas before it began to have its devastating effects in other countries including the U.S. Drs. Allen and Jekel have studied the crack problem from its inception. Containing much information based on extensive professional involvment with crack addiction and the large-scale social damage it causes, this volume is necessary reading for all serious students of the crack problem

in the 1950's, a book was published entitled "From Major Jordan's Diary". An officer in charge of the lend lease program to Russia, Major Jordan declared that he had evidence that FDR had provided the materials from the Manhattan Project for making a bomb to the Soviet union via Lend Lease shipments. For decades Major Jordan was ridiculed. Also during the 1950's, the Rosenburgs were executed for giving away these same atomic secrets to the Soviets. For decades this has been held to be true. However, in the early 1980's one James Roosevelt, the son of FDR, wrote a book about the events surrounding the Yalta Conference involving his father, Churchill and Stalin. In the events of this book, which James was a witness to, he writes an engrossing account of the "family matter" between FDR and Stalin in the back channels of this historic conference, which not only support the claims of Major Jordan, but also exonerates the Rosenburgs and devestatingly rewrites the history of the entire Cold War.

Some casual viewers of this site might wonder what the history of a small Southern town can offer readers across the nation. The answer lies in Franklin itself: for much of its history, it represented the ethos of much of the American nation, yet with noticeable differences that make its uniqueness compelling. Originally considered "the west," a wild and exotic frontier of Indians and game and forest and wild fields, Franklin became an outpost of civilization for the people at the end of the 18th Century who wished to move on to cheaper land and new business opportunities. From its earliest days, Franklinites were slaveholders, and this is another important thread in the complex story of the town, county and region. The town was the focus of the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, one of the Civil War's bloodiest and ultimately most futile battles. While the city maintained the Jim Crow segregation policies as did the rest of the South after the War, this book is one of the first to point out the important African-American leaders, like Rev. A.N.C. Williams, who owned a business on Main Street. The section of the book on the city's second century, written by Robert Holladay, is perhaps the most illuminating, addressing as it does for the first time Franklin's vital Black community and the civil rights movement in the town. Unlike the violence that stained many Southern cities and small towns, Franklin schools were easily and peacefully integrated. When an African-American asked the superintendent of schools about integrating the schools, he replied indignantly that he couldn't or he'd be lynched [by whites] on the Square. The citizen mildly replied that if he didn't he'd be lynched [by Blacks] anyway, so he might as well implement the law. The superintendent did so! The role of the interfaith, interracial Church Women in achieving racial equity is also an interesting and important note. Franklin is currently caught in the vise (and vice) of overdevelopment and urban sprawl, spawned by the arrival of I-65 in the 1960s and abetted by almost a century of pro-development ideology of local goverment. The book somewhat soft-pedals this last issue (a former mayor had his hands deep in development deals himself) and ends on a positive note. Perhaps most poignant of all, however, is the photograph by Holliday showing a shady old pioneer cemetery, bordered by the traditional Middle Tennessee mortarless stone wall, adjacent to and visually overwelmed by the new commercial development in the Cool Springs Mall area. Rural Williamson County is gone, replaced by the McAmerica of any suburb from Bangor to San Diego.

Since Amazon didn't post an editorial review, here's the description from the back of the book to help you decide if this book is for you: "THE HAWK. Wild and free, the sole survivor of a brutal massacre, John Cooper Baines lives by his wits as he treks across the unclaimed wilderness. Brought to manhood in an indian village, he moves on to New Mexico -- a turbulent land ravaged by bandits and stamped by the legacy of aristocratic Spain. AND THE DOVE. Headstrong and beautiful, the daughter of an exiled Spanish nobleman, Catarina is torn by warring passions, haunted by a vibrant dream. Only a man who can tame the savage land can subdue her defiant heart. Together they will live the glorious beginnings of a dynasty as proud as royal Spain, as reckless and bold as frontier America."