One of today’s premier biographers has written a modern, comprehensive, indeed ultimate book on the epic life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In this superlative volume, Jean Edward Smith combines contemporary scholarship and a broad range of primary source material to provide an engrossing narrative of one of America’s greatest presidents.
This audiobook was about an hour shorter than the Oppenheimer beast I tackled in January but I loved it just as much (if not more?). I mentioned in my post about The Fault in Our Stars that history doesn't tend to elicit much emotion buuut this one kind of made me cry periodically. FDR was an amazing person. He did and said some incredibly inspiring things. The book described the book on Pearl Harbor then went on to talk about FDR's speech, which famously began,
Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
And I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried. It's such an amazing moment in history. SO MUCH of this book was comprised of amazing moments in history. The preface states that the 3 most important presidents in US history were Washington, Lincoln, and FDR. Now, having read (heard) about his life, I have to agree. FDR shaped the US as we know it now. He saved it from collapse during the depression. He was BFFs with Winston Churchill (need to add him to my bio list) and was the first US president to fly in an airplane. He rose above a serious physical handicap and inspired a nation. Pretty sure he's my new hero.
No comments:
Post a Comment