The Wars of the Roosevelts: The Ruthless Rise of America's Greatest Political Family
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The award-winning author presents a provocative, thoroughly modern revisionist biographical history of one of America’s greatest and most influential families—the Roosevelts—exposing heretofore unknown family secrets and detailing complex family rivalries with his signature cinematic flair.
Drawing on previously hidden historical documents and interviews with the long-silent "illegitimate" branch of the family, William J. Mann paints an elegant, meticulously researched, and groundbreaking group portrait of this legendary family. Mann argues that the Roosevelts’ rise to power and prestige was actually driven by a series of intense personal contest that at times devolved into blood sport. His compelling and eye-opening masterwork is the story of a family at war with itself, of social Darwinism at its most ruthless—in which the strong devoured the weak and repudiated the inconvenient.
Mann focuses on Eleanor Roosevelt, who, he argues, experienced this brutality firsthand, witnessing her Uncle Theodore cruelly destroy her father, Elliott—his brother and bitter rival—for political expediency. Mann presents a fascinating alternate picture of Eleanor, contending that this "worshipful niece" in fact bore a grudge against TR for the rest of her life, and dares to tell the truth about her intimate relationships without obfuscations, explanations, or labels.
Mann also brings into focus Eleanor’s cousins, TR’s children, whose stories propelled the family rivalry but have never before been fully chronicled, as well as her illegitimate half-brother, Elliott Roosevelt Mann, who inherited his family’s ambition and skill without their name and privilege. Growing up in poverty just miles from his wealthy relatives, Elliott Mann embodied the American Dream, rising to middle-class prosperity and enjoying one of the very few happy, long-term marriages in the Roosevelt saga. For the first time, The Wars of the Roosevelts also includes the stories of Elliott’s daughter and grandchildren, and never-before-seen photographs from their archives.
Deeply psychological and finely rendered, illustrated with sixteen pages of black-and-white photographs, The Wars of the Roosevelts illuminates not only the enviable strengths but also the profound shame of this remarkable and influential family.
William J. Mann
<p><strong>William J. Mann</strong> is the <em>New York Times</em> bestselling author of <em>The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando</em>; <em>Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn</em>; <em>How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood</em>; <em>Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand</em>; <em>Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines; </em>and<em> Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood,</em> winner of the Edgar Allen Poe Award. He divides his time between Connecticut and Cape Cod.</p>
Read more from William J. Mann
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wars of the Roosevelts: The Ruthless Rise of America's Greatest Political Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All American Boy: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Masters Of Midnight: Erotic Tales Of The Vampire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Biograph Girl: A Novel of Hollywood Then and Now Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gay Pride: A Celebration Of All Things Gay And Lesbian Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to The Wars of the Roosevelts
Related ebooks
The Gatekeeper: Missy LeHand, FDR, and the Untold Story of the Partnership That Defined a Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vanderbilt Women: Dynasty of Wealth, Glamour and Tragedy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaken Hostage: The Iran Hostage Crisis and America's First Encounter with Radical Islam Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Season of Splendor: The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5George V: Never a Dull Moment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gilded: How Newport Became America's Richest Resort Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Husband Hunters: American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The American Duchess: The Real Wallis Simpson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eleanor in the Village: Eleanor Roosevelt's Search for Freedom and Identity in New York's Greenwich Village Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Brief Shining Moment: Remembering Kennedy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kennedy Men: 1901-1963 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Mother and a Daughter in the ‘Gilded Age’ (Text Only) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robert Kennedy: His Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edward VII: The Last Victorian King Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nellie Taft: The Unconventional First Lady of the Ragtime Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mountbattens: The Lives and Loves of Dickie and Edwina Mountbatten Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor (updated with a new chapter) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Princess Mary: The First Modern Princess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Literary Biographies For You
Molly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notes of a Dirty Old Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing into the Wound: Understanding trauma, truth, and language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Very Best of Maya Angelou: The Voice of Inspiration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Incest: From "A Journal of Love": The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1932–1934 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Distance Between Us: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writers and Their Notebooks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Real Lolita: A Lost Girl, an Unthinkable Crime, and a Scandalous Masterpiece Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: the heartfelt, funny memoir by a New York Times bestselling therapist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman Who Could Not Forget Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Murder Your Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, a Friendship Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5People, Places, Things: My Human Landmarks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Party Monster: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5These Precious Days: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Henry and June: From "A Journal of Love," The Unexpurgated Diary (1931–1932) of Anaïs Nin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Teacher Man: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Writer's Diary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Moveable Feast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Wars of the Roosevelts
14 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wow! How the political parties have changed in their ideas. I started out thinking "This guy has an agenda to dish on the Roosevelts and I maybe won't finish it". But as I read further, I found he was balanced in his criticism and admiration, and that the writing and research were well done. A very interesting book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pretty good book, although it took almost a week to read. He starts off with TR putting his brother in a nuthouse and making his wife leave and making sure that his brother never sees his family again, all for trivial reasons. This guy's daughter was Eleanor, who married FDR. Apart from this, there is not much of a family war, except that TR's daughter Alice is a total bitch and becomes a right wing termagant. Well written. Aapparently the Roosevelts of Oyster Bay never forgave the Roosevelts of Hyde Park for their treason. FDR was great and this idiot we now have for a president is a bad joke.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A completely engrossing account of the Roosevelt family and the bitter rivalry between two branches of the family. I have to say that my views on Theodore Roosevelt were completely changed after reading this book. It's clear that the Roosevelts depicted in this book would stop at nothing to advance their own names and protect that which was most important: keeping themselves on top. Theodore, Alice, Franklin, even Eleanor could be cold, cruel, and biting at times. Still, it's a fascinating look at the inside story of one of America's greatest political dynasties.