About the Author

Joseph Lelyveld spent nearly four decades as a reporter and editor at The New York Times, and served as executive editor from 1994 to 2001. This is his third book since then, following Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India and Omaha Blues: A Memory Loop. An earlier book on apartheid, Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White, won the Pulitzer Prize.

Reviews

“A gripping, deeply human account. . . . Moving, elegiac.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Gripping . . . will substantially deepen readers’ understanding of a critical time in U.S. history.” —Foreign Affairs

“Splendid and richly detailed.” —The New York Review of Books
 
“Masterfully told. . . . A heroic and poignant picture.” —The Boston Globe

“A compellingly nuanced, almost day-by-day account of the great man’s final year of life.” —Time

“A careful, somber and sometimes harrowing account of FDR’s last sixteen months. . . . [Lelyveld’s] full and disciplined investigation of an important theme makes a significant contribution to FDR scholarship.” —The Wall Street Journal

“A pitch-perfect blend of meticulous reporting, careful analysis, and deep humanity. For all that has been written about Roosevelt, this deeply-moving book adds significantly to our understanding of that remarkable man.” —Gay Talese 

“Required reading for anyone who wants to understand the twentieth century’s most consequential—and most mysterious—president.” —Geoffrey C. Ward, author of The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

“Powerful . . . Lelyveld’s account of the last months of a 20th century colossus is great history. . . . If you think you knew FDR, think again—Joe Lelyveld brings him to fresh life, in all his human dimensions.” —Timothy Egan, author of The Worst Hard Time

“A spellbinding example of the biographer’s craft. . . . An unparalleled historical narrative of the last year of the war and the dramatic story of a singular man.” —David Nasaw, author of The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy

“Important. . . . Impressive. . . . Full of illuminating revelations.” —The Washington Times

“Lelyveld’s storytelling skill, his investigative thoroughness and his total dedication to historical fact remain evident throughout. . . . Intense and substantive.” —The Buffalo News

“A masterpiece, in dramatic prose, combining deep research, subtle imagination, and ingenious speculation. . . . Hard to put down and impossible to forget.” —Fritz Stern, author of Five Germanys I Have Known

“A beautifully-realized, impossible to put down chronicle making fresh connections that deepen understanding of FDR’s closing confrontations with crises of health and global leadership.” —Ira I. Katznelson, author of Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time

“Rarely has Franklin Delano Roosevelt been portrayed with such steely-eyed insight. . . . A deeply revealing look at a famously enigmatic president. . . . A masterful study of a masterful politician, a fresh look at one of the most beloved and complex of presidents.” —BookPage

“An elegant, affecting work that offers fresh insights on a much-mythologized president.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“Gripping. . . . Shows that there is much left to say about F.D.R. . . . a solid work of narrative history.” —Publishers Weekly