When she discusses the Japanese losses at the battle of Midway she states the Japanese lost 4 aircraft carriers (true), 1 heavy cruiser (true), 3 battleships (completely, totally false). Who's supposed to edit this stuff? For a supposedly top notch historical book that's an absurd error to get through.

I love this book so much (and admire the author Doris Kearns Goodwin enormously) that I have bought this inside story of America and the Roosevelts during WWII for many of my friends and family members and they all make sure to thank me for introducing them to it...A MUST READ in my humble opinon

I've read several books on FDR and this one covered many aspects of the Roosevelts and the war years that the others didn't. Worth reading!

We may think we know all there is to know about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, but Doris Kearns Goodwin shows in this well-written and fascinating book that we only *thought* we knew the whole story.

This book is full of intimate moments, as told by those who were present to see them. Beautiful detailed, interesting and colorful, this is a layered and nuanced description of life in the Roosevelt White House during those turbulent years between 1940 and 1945.

What I wasn't expecting, and what turned out to be a delightful surprise, was the discussion of what life was like on the Homefront for average Americans during this time. This made extraordinary reading.

For those who are interested in history, this must be added to your list of titles. Highly recommended.

"Team of Rivals" remains my favorite Doris Kearns Goodwin book. But this is a very close second. "No Ordinary Time" is a brilliantly written, information-packed book that provides great insight into the FDR White House and the minds of both Franklin and Eleanor.

"No Ordinary Time" covers the Roosevelts from 1940-45, focusing primarily on how they handled the home front during America's involvement in World War II. It was interesting to learn about Eleanor's deep commitment to civil rights, how polarizing a figure she was throughout the country, and her influence on the president.

I was also very intrigued by the relationships between both Roosevelts and their friends and family. Goodwin occasionally breaks from the time period of the book to cover important moments in their lives pre-1940. FDR's affair with Lucy Rutherfurd, and the rekindling of their relationship in his last years, through the help of his daughter, is fascinating.

If I have one criticism -- and it's a stretch -- it would be that Goodwin sometimes gets bogged down in numbers, such as statistics about war production -- the amount of planes, tanks, guns, etc., that were produced and/or shipped to England and Russia. But while those sections may have somewhat slowed the progress of the book, they were important to the story she was telling.

So I consider this a 5-star book. I know Goodwin justifiably received criticism a few years ago due to some plagiarism in a previous book, but few, if any, historians combine research and writing as effectively as she does. I highly recommend this book.

Seemingly hundreds of books have been written about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Books about Franklin, written from his point of view, can be critical of Eleanor - her tendency to nag, her seriousness, her lack of personality. Similarly, books about Eleanor, written from her point of view, can be critical of Franklin - his deceptions, arrogance, and self-centeredness. "No Ordinary Time, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II," written by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, provides a unique perspective in telling the stories of both Franklin and Eleanor, incorporating each point of view into the story, describing them both as individual people and as part of a troubled yet fascinating partnership. Written in narrative form, Goodwin chronicles the war years on the home front, beginning in May of 1940 and ending in December of 1945, combining the story of the Roosevelts with that of regular Americans to demonstrate the unique relationship that was created between government and the people, making this truly "no ordinary time" in American history.

In "No Ordinary Time," Franklin Roosevelt is fleshed out as a charming and charismatic figure who comes to inspire the nation through his "ebullient energy" and unlimited confidence, not only in himself, but in the country. Although he came from a wealthy, aristocratic family, Roosevelt was able to empathize with the poor and underprivileged after a bout with polio left him crippled. Although he never allowed himself to be seen in his wheelchair, and most Americans did not realize the extent of his disability, Goodwin describes one poignant scene when the president went to visit troops in Oahu and specifically asked to be wheeled around the hospital ward slowly - to, in effect, put himself, his disability, and his vulnerability on full display, so that troops who had lost arms or legs could see "living proof of what the human spirit could do."

His unique ability to transmit his own perpetual cheerfulness and optimism to others was what defined his leadership. According to Goodwin, more than any previous president, Roosevelt studied public opinion (reading newspapers, analyzing polls, securing different points of view), allowing him to understand the national temperament. Even more than that, he wanted to connect to the American people. Prior to one of his fireside (radio) chats, he asked Americans to buy a map to have before them as they listened to his speech. Americans rushed to buy maps, and eighty percent of the audience was listening to the radio as Roosevelt explained to them the situation in each part of the world, bringing the war to life, so Americans could better understand the challenges they were facing and be more prepared for a new kind of war being fought on every continent. Not only did these fireside chats allow Americans to connect with their president, they allowed Americans to connect them with each other. Describing the scene on the Chicago Midway during a fireside chat, novelist Saul Bellow explained how all the taxi drivers were pulled over by the side of the road with their radios on, so that he didn't miss a word of the speech as he walked by their cars: "You felt joined to these unknown drivers, [. . . .] not so much considering the President's words as affirming the rightness of his tone and finding assurance from it." Through his leadership, Roosevelt inspired a country that had just been through an economic depression and that was woefully underprepared for a global war to come together and re-establish itself as the world's preeminent superpower.

Like her husband, Eleanor Roosevelt also forged a unique relationship with the American people. Although she too had grown up in a wealthy, aristocratic family, unlike her husband she suffered through an unhappy childhood, leading to a lack of confidence and various bouts with depression. She lived a conventional subservient life as Franklin's wife up until she discovered his affair with Lucy Mercer. At that point, she decided she would no longer depend on another person for fulfillment and happiness and embarked on her own independent life devoted to her own interests, including teaching, writing, and participating in various political causes. She was not a conventional first lady but rather "challenged the traditional sense of what was possible": she was the first wife of a president to hold a government job, testify before a congressional committee, hold press conferences, write a syndicated column, and earn money as a lecturer. She didn't limit her role to staying at the White House and hosting social events, believing, if she did, she "would lose touch with the rest of the world." Instead, she traveled the country, observing poverty in Appalachia and sweatshops in Puerto Rico firsthand, reporting back to her husband when she found workers making less than minimum wage in one town. She witnessed the devastation of the war herself, also, as she traveled to Britain and to the Pacific. After seeing "the mangled bodies, the stomachs ripped by shells, the amputated limbs, the crushed spirits," she fell into a depression, trying to come to terms with her "emotionally disturbing" trip. Like her husband, she empathized with the American people and, even more than him, was determined to raise the consciousness of our country, fighting against Japanese internment and for women's rights in the workplace, an increased role for African Americans in the workplace, and less restrictive rules to allow refugees into the United States.

Characterizing Eleanor as the agitator and Franklin as the politician, Eleanor as the one who thought about what should be done while Franklin thought only of what could be done, and contrasting Eleanor's shyness and insecurity with Franklin's confidence and sociability, Goodwin makes it clear just how different Eleanor and Franklin were. Realizing their inability to fulfill each other's needs, they established largely independent lives where they turned to others for comfort - Franklin to his "real wife" Missy LeHand, his gossipy cousins, and his aide Harry Hopkins, and Eleanor to her young political activist friend Joseph Lash and a circle of feminist friends, including newspaper reporter Lorena Hickok. Even after Franklin grew lonely as Missy and Hopkins drifted away and turned to Eleanor in the hopes they could re-establish a more traditional marriage, she refused, later writing to Lash that she felt there was "no fundamental love to draw on, just respect and affection." Yet, Goodwin makes it clear that there was a bond between them that could not be broken. In one particularly affecting passage, Goodwin quotes from Eleanor's son, who describes the aftermath of his uncle Hall's death: "'Hall has died,' Eleanor told Franklin simply. Father struggled to her side and put his arms around her. 'Sit down,' he said, so tenderly I can still hear it. And he sank down beside her and hugged her and kissed her and held her head on his chest. . . . . For all they were apart both physically and spiritually much of their married life, there remained between them a bond that others could not break." This bond was not just from nearly forty years of marriage, but from the common cause they were joined in - to better the lives of Americans. In order to advance this cause, they drew strength from each other, together creating a far different America than the one that existed when Franklin Roosevelt first took office.

While it is clear that Goodwin has deep admiration for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, she also establishes them as fully-fleshed characters - visionary, courageous, and brave, but also deeply flawed. In fleshing out their characters, she also succeeds in creating a third character, that of the American people. When Franklin Roosevelt began his second term, one-third of Americans had no running water or indoor plumbing, more than half had no central heating, and only one-fourth had even graduated from high school. America was a "pyramidal society," with a few fortunate on the top and a great mass of people at the bottom. During the war, though, Americans moved from the farm to the factory, from the south to the north, from the east to the west, as war production led to the emergence of the middle class and created the "most profound transition in American history." Most importantly, through innovations like the minimum wage, labor protection, social security, and market regulation, a new relationship between the American people and their government was formed. Franklin Roosevelt's importance is felt most at the end of the book, as Goodwin poignantly describes the public's reaction to his death - "everybody is crying" - and the long railroad trip as his body is carried from Georgia to Washington, with Eleanor looking out the window of the train and seeing hundreds of thousands of people whose lives he had touched gathered along the way to pay their tribute. In recounting the lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and their impact on America, Goodwin shows readers why this was "no ordinary time," creating a vivid portrait of what American life on the home front was like during the second world war and bringing this incredible time in American history alive.

I know another five star rating. But She deserves it. Doris Kearns Goodwin's best book. I felt as if I was living their lives through the words of Mrs. Goodwin.
The very essence of this marriage made a story which is better than any fiction novel. The formative years of both Franklin and Eleanor's lives tells us of the impending marriage of convenience. The starting of a family, along with the tragedy of the death of one of their offspring, tells us of their early life together. The later relationship with Lucy Mercer exposes us to an altered marriage in which Eleanor becomes a truly effective politician in her own right who in turn effected national policy.
Mrs. Goodwin should be commmended for this truly human account of the Franklin Roosevelt period. Her writing was accurate yet highly entertaining. I learned a lot of this Brahman Family. Winston Churchill understood this family as no one else did. It wasn't until Mrs. Goodwin explained this period of extraordinary American History that I really understood the effect of their lives on the American public. Read this Book!!!!!

I know another five star rating. But She deserves it. Doris Kearns Goodwin's best book. I fealt as if I was living their lives through the words of Mrs. Goodwin.
The very essence of this marriage made a story which is better than any fiction novel. The formative years of both Franklin and Eleanor's lives tells us of the impending marriage of convience. The starting of a family along with the tragedy of the death of one of their offspring tells us of their early life together. The later relationship with Lucy Mercer exposes us to an altered marriage in which Eleanor becomes a truly effective politician who in turn effected national policy.
Mrs. Goodwin should be commmended for this truly human account of the Franklin Roosevelt period. Her writing was accurate yet highly entertaining. I learned a lot of this Brahman Family. Winston Churchill understood this family as no one else did. It wasn't until Mrs. Goodwin explained this period of extraordinary American History that I really understood. You bet!! Read this Book!!!!!

If you enjoy history, this book is a must read. Doris Kearns Goodwin makes history interesting. Many of the programs that were instituted during the depression are still in effect today. The Roosevelt's were an amazing team, Eleanor paved the way for many women in politics and business. It's the perfect book to read in our current economic situation.

Rarely does an excellent writer appear in the biography universe. Goodwin uses her amazing skills to weave the story of two remarkable and very human people into and through a momentous time in the world's history. While she sometimes gets slowed down by statistics of limited value (for example how many rubber bands were collected in rubber drive) overall the writer has found a brilliant balance between facts, feelings and remembrances. The book's main revelations center mainly on the enormous contribution ER made to race relations and labor relations during that desperate time. One comes to feel that if not for FDR's hyperactive, agitating wife little or no social progress would have been made during the war years. I have read several biographies of FDR and Churchill and was still enriched by the layers of detail Goodwin has brought to her work, highly recommended.

Rarely does an excellent writing appear in the biography universe. Goodwin uses her amazing skills to weave the story on two remarkable and very human people into and through a momentous time in the world's history. While she sometimes gets slowed down by statistics of limited value overall the writer has found a brilliant balance between facts, feelings and remembrances. I have read several biographies of FDR and Churchill and was still enriched by the layers of detail Goodwin has brought to her work, highly recommended.

Whatever the academic infractions allegedly committed by Ms. Goodwin in writing this book were, she has produced an excellent work that lays bare in detail the workings of FDR's White House during the Second World War from May 1940 onward when Nazi Germany ended the phony war and stampeded over France and Europe to the doorstep of Britain before turning on Soviet Russia. This is a story that in general terms most literate persons know or should know and it is precisely this legacy, not Ms. Goodwin's academic credentials, that sardonic critics of this work and its author seek to disparage. When read in conjunction with Steve Neal's excellent monograph on Wendell Willkie or similar works, a vivid picture of this historical period and its life and death issues for the future of humanity emerge in the context of a distinct theme: that the prospect of an imminent victory of Nazi Germany and fascism in the late 30s and early 40s was viewed with complacency, not by the epochal FDR and "liberals", but by a wide section of conservatives and the "America First" leaning right wing, including all the principal Republican Presidential candidates in 1940 (except for maverick Willkie), whose conciliation of fascism, as in the post-war era in Latin America, was consistent with their deep hostility to FDR and the "socialism" of the New Deal from which they sought to return to the good old days of the laissez-faire capitalism of the Gilded Age in which obstacles to their unrestrained profits like the graduated income tax, social security and labor unions were eliminated.

Another tour de force by Goodwin. Like her "Team of Rivals", this book is a fascinating, compelling account of a fascinating, compelling period in our history. Kearns relates in great detail the many forces and waves that buffeted the American people as they geared up to face the immense challenge facing them and the Allies. I was a child then and remember a few things, especially the tension showed by the adults -- tensions I didn't understand. This book bears testament to the greatness -- the flawed greatness -- of FDR. His pragmatism and his ability to inspire his countrymen were invaluable tools as he strove to marshal a nation that was totally unprepared for war. What was surprising to me was Eleanor Roosevelt. Kearns paints her, warts and all, and the warts were plentiful. The impression I get of Eleanor was that she was a fierce liberal who saw the war not as an existential challenge to her country, but as an rare opportunity to get in place her extreme liberal agenda. I really don't think she saw the war as her husband did. She did a lot of good, particularly in helping eliminate racial barriers. But she hated corporations -- the very companies that made it possible for our nation to go to war with the resources they needed, especially petroleum. She tended to be blinded by her leftwing ideology and simply didn't understand or care about whether or not the private sector had the incentives to make the massive changes that turned us into the Arsenal of Democracy. FDR got it; Eleanor didn't. Also, this book reveals the very human side of its protagonists, especially the very strange relationship between the president and the first lady. Well, I could go on, but suffice it to say that this is a very profound book which reveals the tenor of one of the most challenging times in our history. If you're a Baby Boomer, especially if you have never studied much about the WWII homefront, you absolutely have to read this book. The times it chronicles are the foundation upon which the modern America is built. Kudos to Kearns Goodman for an outstanding piece of work.

Doris Kearns Goodwin did a remarkable job of not only recounting the hietorical events which took place from 1940 to 1945 but especially of giving us - the readers - an insight into the feelings and behavior of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Eleanot Roosevelt and all the people surrounding them during this particularly trying period of time in our history. I was really impressed by the way she gained the insignts she did and by her skill as a writer in presnting them to us. All too often we learn about history as if it is merely a series of events which can be presented to us in a chronological chart denoting what happened and the date that it took place. Here, in this book, Goodwin filled in the "spaces" among the events by revealing to us how people felt not only about the events but also about one another as they tried to use their roles in life to move what was taking place in a direction which they felt was desireable.

Franklin Roosevelt is portrayed as the consummate politician - practicing politics as "the art of the possible" ususually with a sense of what it was desireable to do, but always attending to the matter of how far he could go in the pursuit of what he felt should be done without loswing the powere which his position enabled him to exercise. Eleanor Roosevelt is portrayed both as a heroine - if you agree with her ideals and admire her peristent desire to bring about the changes she thinks should occur in our society - and as a very insensitive person blinded to her own egotism bu what she thought were her ideals. A complicated person, she seems ofte toplace her own needs ahead of every thing else because she is utterly convinced of the worthiness of the causes she espouses and the impotance of the role she must play in bringing them about. The relationship between Frnklin and Eleanor forms a great part of this story and leaves the reader with many questions to ponder, particularly with the effect that they both had on their children as they, themselves, played the role of mother and father.

As the story is unfolded about this "no ordinary time" Goodwin does not spare us the painful exposure to the shortocomings of our society, particularly with reference to the treatment of Blacks and Jews which was so evident during this time. Over and over again we are reminded of the all too prevalent himan disosition to place nationality and culture and race ahead of humanity in defining our relationships with one another.

She is an excellent historian and writer and I reccomend this book enthusiastically to any one.

Are there many Roosevelt lovers out there who are under 70? I'm one of them, but I can't for the life of me understand why. It is perhaps because of the low esteem in which I hold the Presidents of my life time: Kennedy, Johnson and so on. God, how low we have come. It is surely a period of unprecedented mediocrity in national leadership. Can one honestly compare Bush, Clinton, Carter, or Ford to the likes of Franklin Delano Roosevelt? Why is this? That FDR was hated in his time is now more understandable to me, as I hadn't before understood how radical his policies were. Of course, none of his experiments has lasted and this may explain why he is so easily loved. Only Social Security survives. I love the personal anecdotes the author has assembled to tell the story of the President's ordeal. We see again how much he suffered. Those four terms really were too much for him. The author of this work is a "petticoat historian," part of the feminist movement in history to tell the grand historical stories from the point of view of the bathroom and bedroom. If it were not deemed to personal and in bad taste, Goodwin would describe the President's bowel movements. One might very well say "why not?" but the point that bothers me is why such things are of such great interest to the author. Surely, the Battle of Stalingrad is a wee bit more important than Roosevelt's breakfast menu. Nonetheless, Goodwin is discreet and tasteful and, therefore, the anecdotes she shares are personal but never vulgar. She possesses an entrancing style, which makes this a quick and delightful read. That we have had such a sorry group of Presidents since FDR is a sad thing but, who knows?, with new crises approaching, the country may yet produce another great man.

I ordered this book with the understanding that there was sufficient time for it to be received before we left on vacation. No quarrel with the book selection, but the mailing date mysteriously changed when the order was confirmed. Unfortunately, the "new" mailing date was just about two weeks later than what was advertised.

There are only a couple of prominent historical authors that I would put in the same class as our native Pittsburgh author, David McCullough. Goodwin is most definitely in this class as an author. Not only is the research of her topic concerning FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt during 1939 to the death of FDR in 1944 impecable, her writing is so riveting, that I found it near impossible to put the book down. I certainly didn't read anything else until I finished this book.

I never could understand why my parents who grew up during this time period kind of bad mouthed FDR. I suspect it was from hearing their own parents, who were conservative. AFter reading this book, I understand their attitude even less...I'd ask them, but try hard to avoid things that may bring on a fight at their age. Anyway, even though it's obvious that both these people had their very large problems (especially in dealing with each other and personal relationships), given the type of presidents I've experienced during my lifetime...I sincerely doubt two other people could have handled so many issues correctly during this time of war. I am beginning to understand why this was called the Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw, in fact, reading this book makes me want to read that one. I am awed by the overwhelming personal sacrifice that so many young men (and their parents and their spouses) made to serve in the military when the chance of coming home at all was slim. I am also awed by the effort of the entire U.S. workforce to enable Roosevelt to create and supply the Lend-Lease program that allowed our Allies to fight until the U.S. became involved in the war against the Nazis. If they hadn't been able to carry on, the chances of crushing Hitler and cronies with their armed might was slim.

Roosevelt was an enigma. I don't understand his apparent need to be surrounded by pretty women who listened to him talk, while at the same time admiring his wife and wanting her by his side. However, his oversight of all the parts of the U.S. during the war seems to be exactly what was needed. Whatever else he did wrong, no one can possibly state that he did not enable us to win the war. If they do say that, they are wrong. The weak presidents we have now would never have been able to accomplish what he did back then. His political ability and personal charm allowed him to hold all the reins of the economy, military, deal with Congress, continue to promote social change and programs is beyond the powers of modern men. Not since Lincoln had a strong president been able to control so much during a time of war, and succeed so spectacularly. Add to this the fact that he was disabled by polio and the effort of all this was taking a toll on his body, that in this day and age would have been controlled by diet and medicine. However, the medical care as demonstrated by the author was so bad that it led to his early demise at age 63. If he had lived now, so much more could have been done to save him...but at that time, so little was known about the heart and its care that even his personal physician was incapable of reading the signs Roosevelt showed of decline due to stress among other things.

Goodwin wrote so lovingly of Eleanor, that I want to read more. A woman who cared so strongly about other people, and who was such a strong advocate for social equity and change...I would have loved to met her as I am an advocate for disabled rights. We could not possibly have made the changes in society towards the disabled without the changes made in civil rights for African-Americans. This is another reason to respect that generation, both those who needed to learn to put aside their prejudice and many did, and those who advocated for that social change...and many did, including an elderly white woman who could have sat back in wealth and totally ignore the needs of others. She couldn't do that. Wow...she was impressive.

I loved this book. I was sorry it ended, and I am probably going to read her other stuff as soon as possible.

Karen L. Sadler

THIS BOOK WAS INFORMATIVE AS WELL AS FASINATING. ANY HISTORY BUFF SHOULD READ. TO REALIZE HOW UNPREPARED OUR COUNTRY WAS, AND ULTIMATELY VICTORIOUS, WHEN WE WERE COMPELLED TO ENTER THE WAR, SHOULD GIVE US COURAGE IN THESE TRYING TIMES.

Doris Kearns Goodwin won the Pulitzer Prize for this book and it is an award she richly deserves. This book is basically a study of Franklin Roosevelt's role as the Commander-in-Chief on the home front. "His leadership of the home front was the essential condition of military victory." Kearns Goodwin adds, "To understand Roosevelt and his leadership is to understand the nation whose strengths and weaknesses he mirrored and magnified." At the same time, she also studies the relationship between the President and his wife. Eleanor Roosevelt was no ordinary First Lady and made a real effort to shape policy. "At a time when her husband was preoccupied with winning the war, Eleanor Roosevelt insisted that the struggle would not be worth winning if the old order of things prevailed" (p. 10 for all quotes).

As a book designed for the general public, "No Ordinary Time" is exceptionally well-written. There is a general belief, though, that popular historians often sacrifice substances for form and high sales. While there is something to that that view, it is totally off the mark in this case. In writing this book, Kearns Goodwin challenges an old idea that FDR subscribed to: that wars kill domestic reforms. Many political historians of the Progressive Era, the Jazz Age, the New Deal, and the Fair Deal have argued various points associated with viewpoint: did the First and Second World Wars kill off the prewar reform movements, or just put them on hold; was the movement for change that followed each conflict a continuation of the prewar cause or were they something different. Kearns Goodwin argues instead that Eleanor Roosevelt was largely successful; that reform and social change continued during the war. The conflict had a transforming effect on American society and did not kill the New Deal, despite what FDR said. She supports this point with a number of good examples, arguing there is a direct link between the New Deal and the Fair Deal.

Kearns Goodwin got into trouble a few years back with charges of plagiarism on another book. Putting the merit of those accusations aside--it was after all a different project--one need not worry about this book. Kearns Goodwin offers her readers a wonderful read and some thought provoking views of the past. It is a book that will appeal to generalists and specialists alike. It is well worth both your time and money.

Having read many of the reviews written here, I think that it is important to first state that I am very conservative both economically and politically. Having said that, I want to make sure that it is understood that I am not judging the FDR Presidency, just this book.

This is my first real historical look at this time frame in American history and I felt that this book was a very good start from which to look into other avenues of interest during the war years. It is important to keep in mind that the earlier FDR years do not come into the focus of this work. This would not be a good book to judge FDR and the New Deal. It sticks with the years 1940 until FDR's death in 1945.

The book is well written and easy to read. It definitely lacks an in depth look at the "whys" of the FDR decision process. I would have liked to have learned more about the actual war decisions, but in reading the subthe title of the book, it is clear that the focus is about the homefront, not necessarily the war efforts abroad. The internal fighting and family relationships are discussed at length. Eleanor is given a front and center position in this work. I really would have liked to see more of FDR and how the decisions for various strategies were found.

There is a liberal bias to the book, but maybe that's my conservative stance showing. Nothing is mentioned in the book other than two sentences about Vice President Wallace. FDR is made to be a Superman, when it could have been read as FDR was merely a dictator that was elected. Without the effect of the decision process, the impression is that all decisions were FDR's alone. And while that may have been the case, the book never clearly states the way many of these ideas came to pass. This book leaves me the impression that much of FDR's time was spent polling the public and then fitting that knowledge into a decision.

So yes the book does have weaknesses in my opinion. But the strength of the book is the look at FDR the person. He was a solitary figure that needed a strong group of friends to humor him and help him through a truly horrific time in American history. His family life was a mess - he and Eleanor going in different directions with the purpose of staying apart. But the main thing I took from this work was that FDR gave the country hope. He never said quit, no matter the odds or obstacles. Was he a great President? This book is a very small piece of that puzzle.

This was a very enjoyable and well written historical account of America during World War II, through the prism of the relationship between Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Goodwin's great strength, it seems to me, is to find a really refreshing angle to look at a well documented subject, often by examining the subject's most important personal relationships. She did the same thing in her Lincoln book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by examining the way Lincoln put together a strong cabinet, while still remaining a strong executive.

In this book she focuses on the Roosevelts during World War II, as FDR rallied a totally unprepared nation to become, first the arsenal of democracy, and then to enter the war against both Germany and Japan.

From my point of view I would have preferred more Franklin and less Eleanor. Ms. Goodwin notes several critics dismissing Eleanor as a meddling nag, and at times the criticism has merit. Franklin's demeanor, whether he is holding court at press conferences or White House cocktail hours, is much more enjoyable to be around. And you do, thanks to the lively writing, have a "you are there" feeling throughout this book.

I loved this book. In it, Kearns-Goodwin recreates the time frame 1939-1945 like no other book I have read. The Roosevelts, long in power and struggling to overcome personal/physical difficulties, rise to the occasion like few leaders before them. Both children of privilege, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt took on their personal demons (his polio and her, at first, paralyzing shyness) to save the nation. Already dealing with the Great Depression, they were the public face of the war effort. How easy it would have been for FDR to overreach his power (in both the Depression and WWII). Although he was restricted by an isolationist Congress before the attack on Pearl Harbor,he persuaded Congress to ok Lend-Lease, and developed a plan with Churchill (and later Stalin) that eventually led to total victory. While he made some mistakes (internment of Japanese Americans, for example), his optimistic and winning public style balanced nicely with a keen understanding of the power he wielded. Eleanor, for her part, became the paralyzed president's spokesman around the world and at home. She also pushed domestic policy in a way that kept things like civil rights, help for the poor and needy, and better working conditions for labor on the front burner despite the efforts to win the war. Kearns-Goodwin covers it all, including the personal struggles of the First Couple. After it all, they emerge as extraordinary leaders for "no ordinary time". Few have equaled them before or since.

Packed with information on every aspect of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt during the WWII timeframe, this book is a history lovers dream. Unfortunately, I am no history lover. I became glossy-eyed when fine details were being mentioned about everyday activities. I felt that the book strayed from the main story and gave too much supporting detail. Yet, as is with all of the history books that I marginally enjoy, I learned quite a bit of information that I would never have gained otherwise. I was amazed to learn about how separate the Roosevelt's actually were as a couple and FDR's continued relationship with Lucy Rutherford. I also gained insight into how much Eleanor helped to spur the rights for blacks and women with her forward thinking. Eleanor and Franklin's separation as a couple was shadowed by their strength in bringing a nation out of depression and forming our current business environment. I was also surprised to see the extent in which Franklin relaxed. There wasn't a chapter where Franklin didn't either drive around Hyde Park, cruise on the Potomac, or spend time in his "Little White House" in Warm Springs. This was a man who knew what taking it easy was all about.

I am a college student. Before reading this book I barely knew who FDR was, let alone why his terms in office were so important. I traveled to Hawaii shortly after reading this book to visit Pearl Harbor because I was so moved by the book. I feel like I understand my grandparents generation a little better now and truly want to thank them for all they have done.
Overall, a terrific read. The author did a wonderful job of sharing the unique relationship between FDR and Churhill. I was also impressed with the author's knowledge of the homefront, instead of just all of the famous battles. Everyone should read this book.

I first received a pre-publication copy of this book in 1995. I so enjoyed the narrative style of Kearns Goodwin and the compelling insights into the FDR White House I bought and shared copies of the hard-back with several friends. I was delighted when the book later won a Pulitzer Prize.
Doris Kearns Goodwin is a masterful storyteller and this soft-cover edition is an inexpensive opportunity to read one of the great history tales of the recent past.

My wife and I really enjoyed this CD. We heard Doris Kearns Goodwin speak at the Paramount theater in Oakland. Wonderful writer and speaker. One minor nit-picking complaint - the speaker mentioned FDR was able to keep several balls afloat. I suspect he meant to say he was able to keep several balls aloft.

I've you've read Doris Kearns Goodwin and enjoy her work, you don't need me to tell you what a good read this is. Her attention to detail is exhaustive and yet her delivery keeps you turning the pages. She has a way of going beyond the statistics and giving you a sense of who both Eleanor and Franklin really are. At 633 pages in length, it's not a short read you can take along to the beach. But if you have the time and the interest in the subject matter, it's worth reading.

I've you've read Doris Kearns Goodwin and enjoy her work, you don't need me to tell you what a good read this is. Her attention to detail is exhaustive and yet her delivery keeps you turning the pages. She has a way of going beyond the statistics and giving you a sense of who both Eleanor and Franklin really are. At 633 pages in length, it's not a short read you can take along to the beach. But if you have the time and the interest in the subject matter, it's worth reading.

It's ok - It really wasn't what I expected, which would have been a narrative about FDR and the New Deal - I assumed that the title referred to the Depression. In typical Doris Kearns Goodwin fashion, it focuses on the elitist details - a life of a politician who vacationed in Campobello, his fat cat friends in the White House and Congress and his celebrity family friends - nothing about the struggles of ordinary soldiers or the little people whose lives were altered by FDR's wartime policies. To be honest, I spent more time reflecting on the life and values of the author than on the subject of the biography - what a pity.

It's ok - It really wasn't what I expected, which would have been a narrative about FDR and the New Deal - I assumed that the title referred to the Depression. In typical Doris Kearns Goodwin fashion, it focuses on the elitist details - a life of a politician who vacationed in Campobello, his fat cat friends in the White House and Congress and his celebrity family friends - nothing about the struggles of ordinary soldiers or the little people whose lives were altered by FDR's wartime policies. To be honest, I spent more time reflecting on the life and values of the author than on the subject of the biography - what a pity.

WELL READ AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN. AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF OUR HISTORY.

This book at 626 pages is so rich in detail that readers may think they are reading "War And Peace." This is half history, and half biography of the Roosevelts. Wartime conversations, weapons production, historic meetings, the leaders, their families, and personal anecdotes are all here. You learn that Stalin was an enigma to FDR. That Churchill and FDR were truly kindred spirits. On the homefront numerous changes happened that transformed the USA permanently. Ex: The large scale moving from rural communities to urban manufacturing areas. Women {Rosy the riveter} moved in huge numbers into the work force. The service sector of the economy grew to help them. As in day care, take out food, and laundries. The reader may truly be stunned at just how unprepared the USA was before
the start of the war. When the readers are done, they will realize that very title is a huge "understatement."

"No Ordinary Time" is packed with interesting factual research and insightful analysis. The book brings the reader through events in the White House during the end of the Great Depression and through WWII. I never knew that Franklin died with his mistress from almost 30 years before at his side or that the US had virtually no army c. 1940, or what exactly "lend-lease" was. Eleanor comes off as a bit unreadable. She seemed ot delight in asserting her independence from Franklin, yet she taunted him with her distance in a way that it is hard to imagine a woman of her intelligence and courage doing. Franklin's long-time secretary, Missy LeHand, may or may not have had an affair with the president, but that doesn't really matter. After she has a stroke Franklin changes his will to leave 1/2 his estate to her, and cuts his children out (it was worth approximately $3M), but effectively never speaks with her again. Read this book if you love history, or a great story--it's both. The courage of the American and British people comes through in a heartbreaking way. The genesis of the American Civil Rights movement and the feminist movement are intereting to witness and seem to owe a great deal to Eleanor. On the downside the blatant anti-semitism of the US, and, unfortunately, the Roosevelts, is shocking. It's hard to believe that these events happened only 60 years ago. It was truly another world.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a marvelous writer. She combines real history and real people in a way that is non-judgmental, educational and very redable. All of her books are a MUST.

Rik Clark
Cape Cod

Excellent book. Unfortunately educational textbooks only give a surface version about the lives and interaction between Franklin and Eleanor. This book peels layer by layer about their relationship (negative and postive) and the reality of what the United States went through pre-war, during and post-war.

Author of
The Truth Ab out
Caffeine

Goodwin takes a really interesting approach here to what is essentially the biography of a couple. Doing a biography of a couple is fairly unique as a starting point, but Goodwin gets more creative, using the time period of the Second World War as a magnifying glass to really bring the traits of her subjects into focus. The result is amazingly well done.

Goodwin clearly admires her subjects, but does a nice job of keeping a balanced perspective about their character traits and their actions. In the end, she does what any great biographer must - she shows you that even massive historical figures are human beings with failings that go along with their strengths. Goodwin does an admirable job of showing how the character traits of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt translated into changes in America and the world.

You don't need to be a fan of Franklin and Eleanor Rooselvelt to enjoy this book - I'm not. But the balance of Goodwin's approach will help any reader come to better understand the time in which the Roosevelts lived and led and the factors that shaped these two enormous personalities.

Highly recommended for fans of great biography and/or history.

I have to admitt I enjoyed this book but I think it went overboard on their personel lives. Typical of a feminine author. It got a little bit much at times. I never cared who is making it with who but what is happening in the real world.

My parents and their generation grew up during the Depression and WWII, and said that Franklin Roosevelt was the difference with his upbeat attitude and sound leadership, giving the country the confidence needed to overcome all obstacles. He was not afraid to lead and take chances, they told me, and was for them the most revered patriot in the history of our country.

I finally decided to read a book that might give me some perspective on this. Were my parents right in their assessment, or was this mythological thinking, making something better in retrospect than it was in real time?

So I turned to this carefully researched and crafted, and Pulitzer Prize winning account of that time, "No Ordinary Time". The book found FDR to be complex, charming, hard-to-know, optimistic, resilient, crafty, and ruthless when necessary; in other words, FDR was a master politician. His vision and timing were impeccable and he was fearless, as he navigated the stormiest waters of the 20th century. I found him, by this book's account, to justify the admiration of my parents, even with 60 to 70 years perspective.

Doris Kearns Goodwin gives us a stroll through his life, stopping here and there to go into the history of an event or the background of a key person. It was a little bit soap opera with the various relationships FDR and Eleanor had, not only with each other, but with others they loved. She and Franklin had parted intimate ways just after WWI because of an extended affair FDR had with a certain Lucy Mercer, and so they both sought intimacy elsewhere. It seems that none of the relationships were sexual, including, of course, the one between FDR and Eleanor; and at least one was a lesbian affair. FDR and Eleanor truly loved each other, but it's a mystery how they kept their marriage going. Their relationship is one of the most important mysteries of American political history, as they both put together patched-up personal lives to compensate for the failed marriage.

All of this proves that the President and his First Lady were very human and depended on each other. For the crippled Franklin, Eleanor was his eyes and ears to what was really going on throughout the country; and for Eleanor, it was a way of pressing for her social concerns. In fact, her efforts sowed some of the seeds that fomented the Civil Rights movement in the 60's.

Franklin was very good at keeping his own counsel, and hardly ever showed his hand until he announced a decision. Also, he took chances, especially in supplying England early in the war when our resources at home were almost completely decimated by the Depression. He was able to pump up production of war materials in the US to record levels, by navigating the tricky waters between unions and big business. (In fact, the book says that our production, more than our military manpower, was the reason we won the War.) He was able to bring out our best. He was also adept at dealing with our allies, notably the great but high-strung Churchill, and the mysterious and deadly Stalin.

Eleanor was also truly remarkable. She was tireless in her liberal causes for the under-classes (women, minorities, the poor) and set a standard for First Ladies that has never been equaled. She was better with crowds, making speeches, than one-on-one, and had a more difficult time with personal relationships. She did not seem to be able to reveal her true self even to those closest to her. That said, you couldn't help but be impressed with her tireless drive and dedication. The Presidency would not have been as successful if not for her.

I can't imagine the amount of research that went into this book. Doris Kearns Goodwin deserved the Pulitzer Prize for it. It was a great read about a great subject.

FDR and Eleanor were no ordinary couple!

Another great one here, fills in a lot of blanks with some good new stuff.

If you read the outside cover of the CD Audiobook, you get the impression that the volume strongly will deal with the manner in which FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt led the country during World War II. However, what you get is more often innuendo about FDR's fascination with women other than his wife, whether his prviate secretaries, a visiting princess, or his mistress of many years. Eleanor is covered in more detail than was expected, but she comes off pretty well, her husband's wandering eye notwithstanding.

Goodwin does provide some insight into the challenges of running the United States during the critical war years, but the amount of time devoted to private pursuits was not what was expected. I had hoped for a lot more detail on the warimte effects of the economy, and the challenges it served the president. I had hopes of more on FDR's handling of race and labor issues, but did not get it. I had hopes of learning more about FDR's partnership with the Congress to achieve the nation's goals, but was disappointed there as well.

This was the first Goodwin book I picked up, and it didn't put me off enough to avoid her amazingly good Team of Rivals, about Lincoln and his cabinet. Still, I remain disappointed that the book's cover and inside clearly focused on other issues than what was projected.

I was sitting on an airplane reading TEAM OF RIVALS. The man next to me said, "If you enjoy that one, you need to read NO ORDINARY TIME. He was correct. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Goodwin did a fantastic job on both of these books. It even made me go back to FRANKLIN AND WINSTON, the book about that relationship during WWII, to compare notes.

This superb narrative gives us a very personal look at President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), and the U.S. home front just before and then during World War II. Author Doris Kearns Goodwin captures the tenor of the times as she takes us inside the Roosevelt White House. We see the charismatic President and his inner circle (which included Eleanor) skillfully leading the nation against Fascism. Goodwin focuses heavily on Eleanor, who was the President's advisor, gadfly, his "eyes and ears," and a magnetic force in her own right. Readers also see the couple's very human flaws, and their strained relationship based on devotion rather than romance. The President kept a mistress (Missy LeHand, then Lucy Mercer) while Eleanor had passionate friendships with a woman and with student leader Joseph Lash - future Pulitzer-winning author of "Eleanor and Franklin." Goodwin clearly admires the Roosevelt's as people and as leaders, but refuses to gloss over their flaws, nor some of the President's errors - interning Japanese Americans, not saving enough Jews from Hitler, and marginally combating racism.

Ms. Goodwin captured the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for this superbly moving and readable narrative. The book is more dual biography than work of history, but should be of great interest to fans of either genre.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is simply at her best in No Ordinary Time. It is a wonderful historical narrative of what went on inside the White House during the Depression, the years leading up to the war and WWII itself. Dr. Goodwin picked a topic and added an immense amount of research and color to it. She manages to astutely put the reader into the Roosevelt White house and the relationship between these two towering figures. Yet she never allows the reader to lose site of the bigger picture, always seemlessly bringing a broader historical framework back into her pages. Her depiction of FDR's true leadership but failure at in-depth human relationships is well done. Her look at the pioneering Elenor Roosevelt and her inability to slow down and deal with a marriage even after a near failure in its very nascent stages, her desire to influence her husband to keep the social progress of the New Deal alive when his hands were beyond full leading an all-encompassing war effort and her jealousies of women with social graces is truly terrific stuff. Literally all the players that set both the world stage are there with much of her attention at the White House where friends, family, advisors, lovers, and world leaders lived and stayed and created a dynamic that literally shaped U.S. policy during this incredible period of world history.

One could go on about how well each topic is covered. Suffice it to say this is one well done book. If the reader desires to learn more about another relationship that greatly effected the war effort, I would recommend "Franklin and Winston" by Jon Meacham or, for a broader and terrific work on the period, "Freedom From Fear" by David M. Kennedy (part of the Oxford History of the United States). For a great couple of historical fiction pieces I would pick up "Winds of War" and "War and Rememberence" by Herman Wouk (don't let a poor televions mini-series poison your view of a couple of terrific novels that give you a feel for a period that even the best writers of narrative history, simply cannot given the purpose of their writings).

Even today we voters primarily vote for the candidate instead of his or her spouse. Thus, my preference would have been for a book that tilted more heavily with FDR's vantage point.

Having said that I can also certainly stress that I understand precisely why so much is dedicated to the First Lady. She certainly was a great American and was heavily involved and did a terrific job in getting a first-hand look at the country for FDR. I doff my hat and bow to the one individual who did so much to bring my country into a new age.

As I listened to the audio version I thought much of my mother. She had worked at McDonnell-Douglas and then became an Army WAC. Near the end of the war Mom wrote a poem that appeared in Stars 7 Stripes, "You Whispered I Love You."

At the time she was hospitalized and later received a number of marriage offers but the one she'd most wanted to hear did write to ask me hand. Thus, some seven years later, thankfully, I appeared on the scene and would later become a writer. I am grateful but, perhaps, readers of my reviews have opposite emotions!

Again, get a copy of this book and read or listen to it to get a terrific insight into the America born from the Roosevelts. [...]

Of the making of books on Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt there is not end. By any standard they remain two of the most remarkable people to have inhabited the White House, he as one of greatest presidents ever and she as without any serious competition the greatest first lady. Together, they forged a partnership without parallel in the nation's history.

In a sense, the book is deceptively delimited. Goodwin ostensibly deals with the Roosevelts and the Home Front during WW II, but in fact this is more like a joint biography of the two. She freely shifts the narrative from the years of 1939-45 to any point in the lives of the two, whether to dwell on their first meeting, to the time in which Franklin was afflicted with polio and his attempted recovery, to Eleanor's upbringing and the sufferings she experienced with alcoholics, to Franklin's adulterous affair that effectively ended his and Eleanor's marriage if not their partnership. So the book ends up as a wide-ranging exploration of the lives of the two main characters, as well the major figures in their lives, whether in the war years or not.

Franklin emerges in the book as what he certainly was: one of the truly great presidents in American history (even his detractors need recall that Ronald Reagan called him the greatest president). Virtually every poll of scholars since his lifetime has placed him among our three greatest presidents, but even that can overlook the fact that no president in our history faced more challenges than did Roosevelt, and few dealt with them so successfully. Goodwin is brilliant at showing both Franklin's great strengths as both president and a human being, as well as his weaknesses. As she demonstrates, perhaps no president had a greater sense of what could actually be achieved politically at any moment, as opposed to what ought to be achieved. He was the great master of compromise, at crafting seemingly impossible solutions to intractable problems. Could any other president have conceived the land-lease program that may have been as essential in determining the outcome of WW II? As she quotes Churchill as saying, no other individual of his age thought so globally and comprehensibly as he. And has there ever been a president who generated such confidence in the people as a whole. Whatever his moral shortcomings, his leadership qualities were beyond parallel, and surely no president spoke so brilliantly and directly to the hearts of Americans. Sometimes we don't get the leaders we deserve, but the ones we need.

But despite Roosevelt's brilliance as a political leader, Goodwin does not spare in presenting him warts and all. She shows him as someone seemingly incapable of intimacy, despite the hordes of people he needed to surround him at all times. He possessed a host of admirable qualities, but he could also be disappointing, such as his behavior towards Missy Lehand after her debilitating stroke. He is also presented as someone who detested the dirty business of firing someone, someone who would go to the greatest lengths to avoid anything unpleasant, someone who, in fact, comes across as the pampered child he had been. He emerges both as someone worthy of the greatest admiration despite some very real emotional shortcomings.

Much the same is true of Eleanor, who while coming across as the nearest thing to a saint as we are ever likely to see in our country, was deeply lacking in a host of human qualities. Goodwin shows her as alternatingly scolding, insensitive of Franklin's momentary needs, as unaffectionate and fearful of sex, as unspontaneous and lacking in humor, as lacking in confidence, and unforgiving of Franklin's unfaithfulness with Lucy Mercer. At the same time, did any American ever have a better heart where the downtrodden and needy were concerned, or any American have some unselfish concern with social and political justice? Throughout the book, Franklin and Eleanor emerge as so admirable in part because they are also so human. These are not marble statues, but they are nonetheless all the more remarkable for all that.

Any presidency contains a host of supporting characters, but this was especially so in the Roosevelt administration, largely because of Franklin's need to be surrounded by others. Probably no presidency saw so many people living in the White House as the Roosevelt years. Consequently, the book provides mini-biographies of a score of characters, whether the uber-secretary Missy Lehand, the remarkably gifted though gravely ill Harry Hopkins, the Roosevelt children, Eleanor's friend (and perhaps lover) Hick, or Eleanor's friend Joe Lash. There are also wonderful portraits of such important individuals as Winston Churchill, whose friendship with Roosevelt was one of the reasons for the close cooperation between the U.S. and Britain during the war.

Because the basic subject matter is one of our greatest presidents during a period of great crisis, there is an inescapable political element to the book, but the actual tone of the book focuses more on the personalities rather than the issues. I do not find the book the least less successful for that. In fact, I think this book is a wonderful corrective for other biographies that focus more on the New Deal and WW II years as a succession of debates on issues or military crises. I would place this fine book on any short list of books to read about Roosevelt and presidential leadership during the war years.

Of the making of books on Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt there is not end. By any standard they remain two of the most remarkable people to have inhabited the White House, he as one of greatest presidents ever and she as without any serious competition the greatest first lady. Together, they forged a partnership without parallel in the nation's history.

In a sense, the book is deceptively delimited. Goodwin ostensibly deals with the Roosevelts and the Home Front during WW II, but in fact this is more like a joint biography of the two. She freely shifts the narrative from the years of 1939-45 to any point in the lives of the two, whether to dwell on their first meeting, to the time in which Franklin was afflicted with polio and his attempted recovery, to Eleanor's upbringing and the sufferings she experienced with alcoholics, to Franklin's adulterous affair that effectively ended his and Eleanor's marriage if not their partnership. So the book ends up as a wide-ranging exploration of the lives of the two main characters, as well the major figures in their lives, whether in the war years or not.

Franklin emerges in the book as what he certainly was: one of the truly great presidents in American history (even his detractors need recall that Ronald Reagan called him the greatest president). Virtually every poll of scholars since his lifetime has placed him among our three greatest presidents, but even that can overlook the fact that no president in our history faced more challenges than did Roosevelt, and few dealt with them so successfully. Goodwin is brilliant at showing both Franklin's great strengths as both president and a human being, as well as his weaknesses. As she demonstrates, perhaps no president had a greater sense of what could actually be achieved politically at any moment, as opposed to what ought to be achieved. He was the great master of compromise, at crafting seemingly impossible solutions to intractable problems. Could any other president have conceived the land-lease program that may have been as essential in determining the outcome of WW II? As she quotes Churchill as saying, no other individual of his age thought so globally and comprehensibly as he. And has there ever been a president who generated such confidence in the people as a whole. Whatever his moral shortcomings, his leadership qualities were beyond parallel, and surely no president spoke so brilliantly and directly to the hearts of Americans. Sometimes we don't get the leaders we deserve, but the ones we need.

But despite Roosevelt's brilliance as a political leader, Goodwin does not spare in presenting him warts and all. She shows him as someone seemingly incapable of intimacy, despite the hordes of people he needed to surround him at all times. He possessed a host of admirable qualities, but he could also be disappointing, such as his behavior towards Missy Lehand after her debilitating stroke. He is also presented as someone who detested the dirty business of firing someone, someone who would go to the greatest lengths to avoid anything unpleasant, someone who, in fact, comes across as the pampered child he had been. He emerges both as someone worthy of the greatest admiration despite some very real emotional shortcomings.

Much the same is true of Eleanor, who while coming across as the nearest thing to a saint as we are ever likely to see in our country, was deeply lacking in a host of human qualities. Goodwin shows her as alternatingly scolding, insensitive of Franklin's momentary needs, as unaffectionate and fearful of sex, as unspontaneous and lacking in humor, as lacking in confidence, and unforgiving of Franklin's unfaithfulness with Lucy Mercer. At the same time, did any American ever have a better heart where the downtrodden and needy were concerned, or any American have some unselfish concern with social and political justice? Throughout the book, Franklin and Eleanor emerge as so admirable in part because they are also so human. These are not marble statues, but they are nonetheless all the more remarkable for all that.

Any presidency contains a host of supporting characters, but this was