AUDIO

FDR Goes to War

How Expanded Executive Power, Spiraling National Debt, and Restricted Civil Liberties Shaped Wartime America
Folsom, Burton W., Jr. & Anita Folsom. FDR Goes to War: How Expanded Executive Power, Spiraling National Debt, and Restricted Civil Liberties Shaped Wartime America. 11 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 13½ hrs. Tantor Audio. ISBN 9781452633916. $39.99; 11 CDs. retail ed.; 1 MP3-CD. library ed.; Playaway digital; digital download. HIST/BIOG
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This World War II history from the U.S. political point of view couldn't be more timely. Many of the fiscal and policy issues of the 1930s and 1940s are still being debated today—this work is like listening to a radio newscaster, albeit one who indulges in a very long broadcast. The narrative is more evenhanded than some book reviewers have alleged. The authors acknowledge when FDR's decisions turned out well as well as when they ended poorly.
VERDICT Alan Sklar is a master reader who manages to inject drama into the driest topics, and many of these topics are far from dry—corporate shenanigans, class warfare, foreign aid, labor, environmentalism, political manipulation, media bias, personal morality, and more. This is a worthy addition to history and biography collections.
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