The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

New York: Alfred A. Knopf; A Borzoi Book, 2014. Cloth, xii, 503 pages, illustrations (some colour); 29 cm. Based on a documentary film by Ken Burns; with a preface by Ken Burns; picture research by Susanna Steisel; design by Maggie Hinders. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Stated First Edition. Dust jacket protected in a mylar cover. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by arrangement. Profusely illustrated. "This companion volume to the PBS documentary distills more than thirty years of thinking and writing about the Roosevelts. Despite the fierce partisanship of their eras, the Roosevelts were far more united than divided. All the history the Roosevelts made is here, but this is primarily an intimate account, the story of three people who overcame obstacles that would have undone less forceful personalities. Theodore Roosevelt would push past childhood frailty, outpace depression, survive terrible grief -- and transform the office of the presidency. Eleanor Roosevelt, orphaned and alone as a child, would endure her husband's betrayal, battle her own self-doubts, and remake herself into the most consequential first lady in American history and the most admired woman on earth. And Franklin Roosevelt, born to privilege and so pampered that most of his youthful contemporaries dismissed him as a charming lightweight, would summon the strength to lead the nation through the two greatest crises since the Civil War, though he could not take a single step unaided. The three were towering personalities, but The Roosevelts shows that they were also flawed human beings who confronted in their personal lives issues familiar to all of us: anger and the need for forgiveness, courage and cowardice, confidence and self-doubt, loyalty to family and the need to be true to oneself." - Publisher.. 1st. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. 4to. Collectible.